


Runaway Bridesmaids

by CooperNox (CooperMox)



Series: Love and War [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, F/F, F/M, Gen, Love at First Sight, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:56:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CooperMox/pseuds/CooperNox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Octavia and Lincoln are tying the knot and Clarke falls for her best friend's fiance's little sister, Lexa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Most of these chapters are very rough and I will be going through and editing them from time to time, so if you decide to keep reading, you might want to scan back through old chapters to see if they've gotten any better as time goes on. There is a lot of filler as of right now, but I'm trying to get better at writing in chapter format, so please bear with me.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I'll get to some short chapters focused on other characters/relationships as I flesh this out, but as of right now it's pretty much exclusively Clexa. On the background of Linctavia of course.

~RINGRINGRING~  
Clarke pulled her phone out of her pocket as she fumbled with the keys to her apartment.   
The screen showed a picture of a wild looking girl with dreads and braids and smeared eyeliner with a huge grin on her face at some wild party. An old picture from the summer after high school.   
"Hey O, what's up?" She slid the green button to answer her best friend's call as she finally got the door open and dropped her school bag by the sofa which she promptly flopped down on.  
"He PROPOSED!!!!!" Came the exclamation on the other end.  
Clarke pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment to recover from the other woman's excited squeal.   
"Oh my god Octavia! Congratulations! You said yes right?!" The excitement finally worked its way over the airwaves to Clarke and she sat up, grinning.   
"Of course I did! It was so perfect! We went to this amazing butterfly house and as soon as he pulled the ring out a butterfly landed on it!" She started laughing as she gushed over the memory.   
"That does sound perfect! I'm sorry I missed it! Have you guys set a date yet?"   
"Raven got it all on camera! Lincoln had her hiding there before we showed up! We're planning for this fall, and I wanted to ask you... Will you be my maid of honor? I know you've got a lot going on with school and stuff, so you don't have to do any planning or anything like that, but you're the closest thing I have to a sister, and Bellamy already has to walk me down the aisle, so he's out." More laughter.  
"Of course I will! And I can plan and organize some things from here, what kind of sister would I be if I made you plan your own wedding all by yourself?!"   
"Raven will help too of course, she and Lincoln's sister are going to be my other bridesmaids, so I've got some help at home. And Lexa will be on leave for a few months this fall, so she'll be able to help some too. You focus on your stars and laws and stuff." Octavia had clearly been planning this for some time before the ring appeared. The idea made Clarke smile as they trailed off into smaller wedding details and then just catching up and banter.   
They had grown up together, Clarke's mom adopting Octavia and her brother after their parents passed away when they were teens. Octavia had always been the first to jump into anything, Clarke and Raven always on her heels, they'd always joked that she'd never settle down because she was always diving head first into something newer and more exciting. But Lincoln had changed that, he gave her reckless impulse a direction and a focus. They got each other through their paramedic training and he encouraged her to try for firefighter, which she took to immediately and well. Clarke considered Lincoln as much of a brother as Bellamy and couldn't wait to see them start their happily ever after together.   
Clarke spent the rest of the evening looking up everything she could find on wedding planning and drawing doodling calligraphy ideas for stationery and announcements.  
As expected, Raven called her shortly after Octavia had let Clarke off the phone. The two spent a few hours coming up with ideas and working out plans for coordinating planning efforts from across the country. The older girl was always putting logic to the creative thoughts that Clarke spilled out, keeping her in check and out of trouble, most of the time. Raven had attached herself to the two younger girls when she moved in next door to Octavia as a child, not knowing anyone in her new town and thinking that the wild girls that ran through the woods across the street were cool enough to at least talk to.   
The three of them had been inseparable ever since. They'd been through every tragedy and every triumph together and now they were getting to chance to plan the first wedding in their own little family.


	2. Inopportune flight changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke's change of plan causes temporary chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More background/character intros, not a big chapter, I promise the good stuff is coming

The Griffin house was in full swing when Abby got the call that Clarke had managed to catch an earlier flight after her last class for the semester.   
"I'll have to send someone to pick you up sweetheart, I have to go with Octavia to the city to get the tables and the dress and finalize payments with the planner." Abby was on her way to the door, pulling a reluctant Octavia away from Raven and the decorations they were working on and her mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour.   
"It's fine mom, I can get a cab." Clarke responded calmly, sensing her mother's stress level rising. "I changed the plan, I can get myself there. It's no big."  
"Of course it is! That's an expensive cab ride, I'm sure Raven can come get you. I have to go sweety, have a safe flight." She hung up and threw the phone into her purse.   
"Raven? Would you be able to pick Clarke up at the airport, shes coming in a day early. "   
Abby's oldest "daughter" looked up from her work on the lanterns she was setting up to take to the park for the wedding.   
"I wish I could Abby.... I have to get going soon though, my appointment, remember?" She tapped her knee with her pliers, producing a faint metallic noise through her jeans.   
Abby set her mouth and nodded, remembering now that the reason Clarke was supposed to come in tomorrow was because Raven had to get her new prosthetic today and everyone else was slammed with wedding appointments that couldn't be done on the weekend.   
"I can go ma'am."   
She was startled for a moment, not having seen Lincoln's sister come up from the guest room in the basement. The young Marine stood straight once Abby set her eyes on her, still a soldier even in her civilian clothes.   
"Lexa, thank god. I hadn't even thought... It wouldn't be too much trouble?"   
"Not at all. I'd be happy to help. " Lexa spoke like she was addressing another officer, and Abby wondered what Clarke's reaction to such a stiff girl would be. Lexa had arrived a few days ago and had kept to herself for the most part. Aside from when she was around Lincoln, Abby had only seen the girl's soldier composure drop slightly for Octavia, who was the only other person she knew here.   
"Ok, Octavia will forward you Clarke's flight details. Thank you. O, let's go, we're going to be late." The doctor whirled back to her adoptive daughter and dragged her to the door. Octavia pouting all the way to the car, hating to do all the boring paperwork and technical things.   
Lexa's phone buzzed a moment later with Clarke's flight information.  
"She really did get an early flight." She muttered, looking at the arrival time and wondering if she had enough time to stop for dinner before the airport.   
"Yeah, Clarke is good at that whole, screw it up with good intentions thing." Lexa's fellow bridesmaid laughed, swinging her leg around her chair to pull herself up. Lexa immediately jumped forward to help her, but she was waved off.   
"I've got it. I've been doing this since I was 16, chill out Marine." Raven laughed again, still not able to understand how this girl was related to Lincoln. They were such opposites. He was always open and friendly and she didn't seem to know how to smile.   
"And hey, don't let Clarke bully you, she's a beast."  
Lexa gave Raven an incredulous look.  
"No really. She kinda hates soldier types. She's made Bell cry and he's just a cop."  
Raven gave her a half smile and headed toward the door.   
"Just don't take it personally. She'll grow on you. " she shrugged and left Lexa standing in the den alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone freaks out, I made Raven an amputee because the idea of only being paralyzed from the knee down on one leg really doesn't sit well with me, personally. don't worry, she's still good ol' awesome "I'm a boss ass bitch" Raven Reyes.


	3. Finding the Old You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa lets go... a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Background on Lexa and Lincoln's family.

The marine in her was offended at the idea of someone hating "soldier types" but the kid she used to be reminded her that she'd hated growing up on bases and being surrounded by soldiers all her life, so she shook it off. Lexa had spent time with Octavia planning the wedding and just getting to know her new sister-in-law's extended adoptive family through old photo albums and stories. Clarke had remained somewhat of a mystery to her though. Her mind almost always seemed to be somewhere else in any given picture Octavia showed Lexa, with the exception of a few candids of the three girls together or of her focused on a project. Octavia and Raven had spent a few hours relentlessly teasing Bellamy when they'd unearthed the photo of his senior prom when he and Clarke had been an item. Lexa however, noticed that in Clarke's own senior prom photo, with a different boy, she seemed present as opposed to the distracted look she wore with her beautiful dress two years before.   
Lexa shook her head, catching her reflection in the floor length mirror in the guest room as she wandered back into its safety and comfort of her own belongings. Her long hair was combed smooth and pulled back in a tight low braid, her usual look for days on the base when she didn't have to have it pulled up and under a hat. In her USNavy shirt and sweats she saw the marine, and for some reason, it bothered her that she'd make a bad first impression on Octavia's maid of honor. She took a deep breath and with the exhale she dropped into a more relaxed posture, dropping out of the conditioned "at ease" that was so second nature to her now. She pulled one of her own photo albums out of a bag that her mother had sent ahead of herself so Lexa could find pictures of Lincoln growing up for the slideshows and collages that would be shown at the reception. Laying on her bed she flipped it open and hunted for pages that she was featured on. She had only gotten to spend summers with her mother and brother after her father had left, bringing his daughters with him. Lincoln wasn’t his biological son, so he stayed with their mother. Indra's albums were lacking many pictures of her or their older sister Anya, who had only been her adoptive daughter until the divorce. Lexa was the youngest and had idolized her older sister to the point of choosing to leave her mother when the custody court had asked her what she wanted when she was 10. Part of her regretted that choice every day. She found what she was looking for towards the end of the book. A teenage version of herself in black leather and a ripped t shirt, thick black eyeliner and wild hair, sitting on her brother's shoulders at a concert. Anya had taken the photo when the three of them had road tripped to some festival the summer before she shipped out overseas and was killed in action. The wild child in her had died with her sister and she asked to finish high school at a military school and enlisted as soon as she was able. She hadn't looked back since then, but seeing herself at 14 loving every minute of the trip, feeling rebellious, dreaming of a life in rock and roll and as far away from the military as possible, made her realize that she was still shut down, despite the shrinks and counselors she had been required to see after her sister's death. She closed the book abruptly and jumped up. 

When she climbed into Lincoln's truck thirty minutes later, Lexa was a new person. Her hair was loose, her eyes were lined, black jeans and shirt were wrinkled and ripped and she wore a tight black leather coat against the impending fall chill. She turned the engine, rolled the windows down and plugged in her phone, setting it to play every band from that last tour she and her siblings had gone to. She turned the volume up and set off toward the airport to meet Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know very little about Military and the marines in particular, but I've been doing a little research as I go, I apologize if I get some facts or behaviors wrong, kindly let me know and I'll try to get it fixed. :)  
> Lexa is Marines, but the Navy hoody and sweats she wears were Anya's, who was Navy.


	4. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke get's a surprise at the airport and the bachelor party gets cut short.

As Clarke descended the escalator she scanned the sparse crowd of waiting families and friends below, looking for Raven who should have been there waving her arms like an excited puppy's tail. Not seeing her friend, she pulled out her phone again to see if someone had texted that she was running late or something. No dice. She reached to bottom and stepped off slightly flustered. Of course, she had changed the plan, but she did that expecting to just take a cab back to her childhood home. And of course, her mother had to have it her way in at least some form, so she sent someone to pick her up. Someone who wasn't there, and now she had no idea whether to go ahead for a cab or call Raven and see what was going on. Her flight had taken forever to deplane, so there was plenty of time for the usually prompt woman to have been there waiting for her. For a moment, Clark flashed back to when she was 14 sitting in the passenger side of Raven's car as they were t-boned and spun off the road. She shook the thought away, knowing that her brain was catastrophizing and there was probably a much more rational reason as to why her friend wasn't present in the baggage claim area. She scanned the space again until her eyes were caught by a pair of dark green ones rimmed in black. The owner of those eyes started moving towards her, the girl's gait and posture at complete odds with her rocker style and wild hair.  
"Hello?" Clarke asked, confused that this mysterious woman seemed to know her. The two locked eyes again as they came face to face.  
"Clarke?" Lexa asked softly.  
Clarke nodded, still showing confusion on her face. She pushed a blonde strand away from her face, suddenly uncomfortable as she took in the woman in front of her, noticing that she was beautiful and cursing herself for liking the dark mysterious types.  
Lexa noticed Clarke studying her and immediately forced herself into a more civilian posture, realizing she had defaulted back to military.  
"I'm Lincoln's sister, Lexa. Raven couldn't make it." She put a small smile on her lips, trying to erase the confusion on the other girl's face.  
"Is she ok?!" Clarke was suddenly, irrationally, alarmed.  
"Oh, yes, yeah. She's fine!" Lexa almost panicked 'why does this girl make me so nervous?'  
"She had an appointment. New leg I think? The fancy one came in." She calmed her voice, returning it to her normal, collected tone.  
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Clark stammered and looked at her feet, unable to meet the green eyes that were locked on her, somewhere between panic and concern.  
"Sorry, that's the wrong way to start off, isn't it?" She held out her hand, forcing herself to look up. "Clarke, nice to meet you, Lexa." She smiled and Lexa took her hand and shook.  
"Nice to meet you too. Sorry I scared you." Lexa relaxed, shaking the blonde's hand. She nodded toward the baggage claim where the conveyer belt was moving. Clarke smiled and they walked toward the crowd of her fellow passengers.  
"I only have one bag, shouldn't be too hard. And no need to apologize, I'm just over protective of Raven I guess. I worry more about her driving than she does. She says I'm probably still traumatized from the accident. She got all the fancy therapy, Octavia and I were only mentally scarred." Clarke filled the space with words, knowing she was probably talking nonsense to Lincoln's sister, and way too fast. She laughed awkwardly and made her mouth stop moving. Lexa only nodded, focusing on the bags that were coming down the belt.  
Clark found her bag and pulled it off the machine, then motioned for Lexa to lead the way. She fell into step with the brunette and they walked to the garage in silence. When they reached the elevator and Lexa pushed the 8 button, Clarke couldn't deal with the quiet anymore.  
"So what branch are you in?" She blurted.  
This time Lexa wore the startled expression.  
"Sorry, I figured you were military. I mean O said you were on leave?" _'Way to go Clarke, offend your best friend's sister-in-law in ten minutes flat.'_  
"Marine corp." Lexa replied proudly, immediately regretting her choice of wardrobe, as it hadn't helped hide that she was a soldier, and now she just felt self conscious looking like an angsty teenager.  
"Oh. Wow. Ummm, thanks." Clarke had expected national guard or reserves, but never a marine. Lexa carried herself like a soldier, but she couldn't see a marine under the black leather and eyeliner. The look was fitting for her, it seemed so odd to Clarke that someone who fit so well into that skin could be a spit shine, button down Marine.  
"You seem stunned." Lexa looked at her sideways, expecting a glare or at least a frown, but Clarke was just contemplating her between slow blinks.  
"You just don't look like the Marine type... This is more, rock and roll badass." Clarke motioned at the outfit and laughed, drawing a smile to Lexa's face.  
"Well I left this style behind a long time ago, I guess I was just feeling nostalgic. " Lexa stepped out onto the 8th floor, leading the way to her brother's truck.  
"You should bring it back, it works.The rocker chick thing is kinda hot." _'oh geeze Clarke, really?'_ she scolded herself for slipping into flirt mode.  
"I mean, you know, in general... I can't pull it off." She tried to recover as she hefted her suitcase into the truck bed, and quickly ducked into the passenger seat.  
Lexa gave her another sidelong look, trying to puzzle out if she'd just been hit on.  
"I bet you could." She said, starting the engine. The music started before Clarke could figure out if Lexa was flirting back. The loud thrum of distortion guitar filled the cab and Clarke started laughing as Lexa lunged at the volume knob.  
"How are you a marine?" Clarke mused when the music disappeared. She reached forward and turned the knob up a little again. "I like it."  
"I used to play drums and guitar, I always wanted to be in a band. I just went in a different direction I guess." Lexa pulled out of the garage and started back on the highway to the Griffin home.  
"Yeah, that's a different direction. Are you missing it? Is that why the nostalgia came out today?"  
Lexa contemplated for a moment before replying. Maybe she was. Maybe the hurt little kid who lost their hero was finally growing up and regretting following her footsteps.  
"Maybe." She said quietly. "I think I'm just realizing how much the corp has made me miss out on. But I'm a marine, that'll never change, even if it wasn't the right choice."  
Clarke watched Lexa and could almost see the wheels turning in her head. There was definitely a story there, but it seemed like something not to pick at. At least not right after they'd met.  
"If it's any consolation, my mom says I should have been a doctor, and I threw away a lot of potential with meteorology and poli sci."  
"That's an interesting combination... Planning on making the weather a political platform?"  
Clarke laughed  
"Meteorology is just for kicks, I'm mostly working on that to keep me from going crazy in law school. Though, Octavia will tell you that I must have hit my head somewhere because you're supposed to double major in undergrad, not get a second batchelors while you work on your masters."  
"Yeah, I think that's how it usually works." Lexa was smiling now, Clarke's casual demeanor had worked its way past her walls and she felt like she could actually be herself.  
"It's a good distraction from the heavy stuff... And if I don't pass the Bar, I've got that to fall back on."  
"And you think you can pass the Bar with your head in the clouds, sky girl?"  
_'Ok, that was definitely flirting, right?'_ Clarke thought, laughing at the horrible pun. Lexa was smirking at her, proud of herself for delivering passable humor. The military was slowly getting pushed to the back of her mind as she let the old Lexa come back after so many years.  
"You just wait Commander Sass." She shot back when she got her breath returned. "I'll see you in court."  
Lexa rolled her eyes, but she liked the banter, it had been so long since another person had been able to put up with her sense of humor, or lack thereof. 

They continued talking along the way, conversation becoming easier and easier and moving from topic to topic quickly and smoothly, each girl thinking of a new anecdote to tell off of the tails of the other's. When Lexa pulled the truck into the Griffin's long driveway they were both smiling and had discussed everything from favorite songs to Octavia's wedding to childhood pets. Lexa grabbed hold of Clarke's suitcase and pulled it from the truck bed before the blonde could reach for it.  
"Thanks." Clarke smiled at Lexa, meeting her eyes as she reached for the handle of the bag. It was much easier to make eye contact now, and almost hard to look away.  
"Not a problem, shall we?" Lexa moved toward the front door, pulling the bag behind her.  
It was Clarke's turn to roll her eyes, but she followed, taking stock of the other vehicles in the driveway.  
"I thought the groom's party wasn't coming back for another day?" She wondered out loud when she noticed Bellamy's jeep. Lexa just shrugged as she tried the door handle, finding it unlocked despite her having locked up before she left.  
"I guess the trip got cut short." She pushed open the door and five heads turned from the television. Bellamy was the first on his feet, wrapping Clarke in a bear hug.  
"It's been too long Clarke, you've got to get your nose out of the books." He teased.  
Lincoln came around the sofa and looked curiously at his little sister.  
"I leave for three days...." He trailed off, looking at her questioningly.  
"And I'm still me, I'm just trying to be a civilian for a change." She pulled her hair over one shoulder and looked up at her brother with a smile.  
"Good to have you back kid." He whispered as he wrapped her in a hug of his own. When he let his sister go, he moved to Clarke and received another hug.  
"How was the batchelor party?" Clarke asked, grabbing her bag from Lexa, and shoving it down the hallway toward her bedroom.  
"Painful." Came over the sofa in a moan. Jasper was sprawled on one couch with a bag of ice on his chest.  
The girls both raised an eyebrow at Lincoln and Bellamy for an explanation. Nick spoke up, his eyes back on the television.  
"Jasper decided that getting kicked in the chest by a racehorse was a great way to celebrate Lincoln's wedding."  
"I'm not even going to ask how you managed that... Anything broken?" Clarke walked over to him, putting a hand on Monty's shoulder as she passed him in greeting.  
"Track doctor said I probably cracked a couple ribs, but nothing fatal."  
"You wouldn't know to hear him whine about it in the car, he would have cried the rest of the trip, so we decided to cut it short." Monty teased his boyfriend, safely out of arms reach.  
Clarke knelt next to Jasper and poked him in the side.  
"Hey! Ow!" Jasper squirmed away from her prodding finger.  
"Hush, I'm just checking to see if anything's twisted. I think you'll live." Clark stood and ruffled Jasper's hair.  
"Really should have been a doctor, that’s some bedside manner. " Lexa smirked at her and Clarke just shook her head. She caught a confused look from Bellamy and realized her cheeks were warm with a blush and quickly looked at her feet.  
"I'm going to my room now, carry on boys." Clarke spun on a heel and dragged her suitcase into her childhood bedroom.  
"The hell was that?" Lincoln asked to no one in particular. He looked at his sister who was staring at the now closed door that Clarke had disappeared through. He raised an eyebrow at her but knew better than to try and get an explanation out of her. Even with the reemergence of her old civilian self, she was shut off. The fact that she’d come and even agreed to be in the wedding was a huge surprise to him.. He remembered the summer before Anya died that Lexa had met a girl at the concert who had joined them on their trip for a day or two, but he'd never been sure what the extent of that relationship was. He couldn't exactly ask if his sister was gay, particularly since she could put him flat on his back in half a second if she felt the need to. So he shrugged it off and headed to the kitchen to start dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for a bigger chapter!


	5. Don't Make Moonshine for Dessert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner at the Griffin House is a hectic affair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another filler chapter... I'm really not good writing lots of characters, so bear with me as I practice.   
> The next one is the best ;P

Octavia walked through the front door to find Lincoln in the kitchen and let out squeak as she ran to wrap her arms around him.   
"You're back early!"   
"Three days was way too long, couldn't do it." Lincoln spun his fiancée as he took the impact from her flying hug. Setting her down he smoothed her hair back and placed a loving kiss on her forehead.   
"You're so full of shit" Octavia laughed knowing that he was buttering her up. "What really happened?"  
"Jasper got kicked in the chest." Clarke stepped into the room, Lexa on her heels and Raven trailing behind them. The bride to be pushed away from Lincoln with another excited squeak and jumped to hug Clarke.  
"Hey you!" Clarke laughed at her excitable friend.   
"Wait, Jasper what?" Octavia pulled back, processing what her friend had said.   
"Has no luck at the racetrack." Raven snarked, taking a seat at the kitchen island. Lexa joined her, ignoring the confused look that Octavia wore as she took in her sister-in-law's dramatic transformation.   
"Did Lexa lose a bet too?" Octavia asked Raven, breaking away from Clarke and moving to lean on the counter next to Lincoln.   
"This is how I dress!" Lexa cried, exasperated. She'd gotten almost the exact same response when Raven had arrived back at the house and found her and Clarke huddled over a notepad, going over the wedding itinerary. "Sometimes" she added, looking down at her socked feet.   
The room just filled with laughter and Clarke took the empty seat between her fellow bridesmaids.   
"Everyone's here!" Abby came in with Octavia's wedding dress draped over her arms. Octavia clapped a hand over Lincoln's eyes, shoving him to turn around.   
"Abby! Dress!" She exclaimed, Lincoln only laughed and obligingly turned away from the door and back to his cooking.   
"Right! Sorry, I'll go put it in your room. Clarke, don't move, I need my hug." Abby crossed the room and took the stairs up to the second floor where Octavia's bedroom was. She returned a moment later and gripped her daughter in a tight hug.   
"How was the flight? Did you get in alright? No complications?"   
"Mom, stop fussing!" Clarke laughed, returning her mother's hug before pushing her back to arms length. "Everything was fine."  
"I worry. California is so far away, and you haven't been home in so long!" Abby continued to fuss.  
"Work and school and studying for the Bar... Not a lot of free weeks to fly to the east coast unfortunately." Clarke just shrugged.  
"At least you're almost done!" Raven piped in. "Then you can move back to the right coast."  
"That's the plan... But it depends on the job. If I can turn my internship with the DA into a real paying position, I'm sticking with that for a while."  
"No no no. You've got to come home! We miss you too much!" Octavia pouted at her adoptive sister.   
The girls and Abby continued to guilt trip Clarke into saying she'd move back to DC when she was done with school as Lincoln finished dinner and Lexa helped him serve out plates and set the table. Nick returned with Monty and Jasper from Lincoln and Octavia's house just in time for dinner, each in fresh clothes that didn't reek of four hour road trip and race track. Bellamy had been called into work just after Raven had returned from her doctors appointment and wasn't expected to return until the next day.   
They ate their meal between laughs and stories of the boys bachelors trip. Lexa had retreated into Marine mode, eating in silence, listening intently, but keeping her focus on her food. Clarke noticed the stark contrast to the girl that had driven her home and poured over wedding plans with her earlier in the evening, and realized that this is what everyone else saw when they saw Lexa. She wondered why the marine was so different towards her, but refused to dwell on it, choosing instead to launch into a Department of Justice horror story about some very stupid criminals.   
When everyone seemed to have finished eating, Lexa stood and began gathering plates and utensils. Clarke moved to join her, but Lexa rested a hand on her shoulder to keep her in her seat.   
"I've got it, you catch up with your family." she offered a small smile and Clarke briefly saw the girl she'd met in the airport. she dutifully removed and rinse all the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher despite Abby's half hearted protests of her being a guest and not having to do so, then retreated to the living room and flipped on the TV. One by one they boys joined her, arguing over which channel to put on. Lincoln took his spot next to her in the matched recliner and Octavia found him, falling into his lap with a kiss. Raven made her way back to the tables set up in the back of the den to resume her pre-wedding project and Clarke retrieved a sketchbook from her backpack.They settled on a documentary special about space and Clarke spent the entirety of the show pointing out where the narrator or a scientist was wrong, making everyone regret the choice but amusing them all enough to not change the channel.   
When the special ended and some mindless reality show came on in its place, Lincoln gathered his groomsmen, kissed Octavia goodnight and headed back to their house. Abby said her good nights as well, sighting that they had a big day of setting up ahead of them, and the girls were left alone in the den to make fun of rednecks trying to catch alligators and make moonshine. Clarke seemed intent on her drawing when Raven finally completed the wiring for the park lights and headed to her room. Octavia followed soon after, peaking over the edge of Clarke's book and raising her eyebrow at her maid of honor. Clarke looked sheepishly up at her friend, blue eyes begging her to not say a word.   
"Not a phase then huh?" Was all Octavia said ruffling Clarke's hair before she headed upstairs.


	6. Laws of Attraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little steamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the good stuff. :p I kinda skipped from chapter one to this when I started this story, hence all the filler.

Clarke was laying on her stomach on her oversized bed, studying a law book with a second book, this one over astronomy, off to the side when there was a knock at the door.  
"Yeah? Come on in!" She called through the wooden door. It opened a few seconds later and Lexa stood in the doorway. The blackness of the hallway behind her made her the only thing Clarke could see through the doorway.  
"I'm sorry. I know it's late, I couldn't sleep, and I heard you walking around from downstairs, so I thought I'd come talk to you. Is that alright?" Lexa looked exhausted, her sweats and hoody rumpled from tossing and turning as she fought her mind for sleep. Insomnia was a constant battle for her. A battle she lost tonight.  
"Of course! The floors in this house are awful, you could hear a ghost's footsteps. Sorry about that. Come on in, I'm just going over boring stuff... Still on west coast time." She laughed lightly and slapped the empty space beside her on the plush mattress.  
Lexa crossed the room, pushing the door closed behind her. She grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed then flopped down next to Clarke, using it to keep herself propped up. Her rebellious hair spread out around her head and shoulders like a waterfall with no direction to go.  
She pulled the astronomy book around to face her, revealing yet another book underneath it.  
"What's this? Another area of study?" Lexa raised an eyebrow at Clarke as they both reached for the plain black covered book.  
"I... It's just sketches. I doodle when I study. It's nothing good, just junk." Clarke tried to pull the book away from Lexa's grasp, but the other girl kept her grip.  
"Now I really want to see. If it's worth hiding... " Lexa's voice gained a playful tone as she yanked the sketchbook away from a gaping Clarke.  
"Ah...I.... Uhmmm.... It's just a hobby, practice and stuff... Don't judge, ok?" Clarke was powerless in this situation, Lexa's playfulness and relaxed demeanor catching her off guard. She had seen the Lexa that everyone else was used to during and after dinner. The marine, the quiet, reserved, calculating woman that Clarke had only heard of and hadn't had a chance to meet yet. But here, alone in her room, that woman was gone, replaced by the girl with wild eyes and unruly hair and a playfully wicked sense of humor. Clarke pulled herself up to sit cross legged so she could distance herself from Lexa for a moment and look over her shoulder as she dove into her personal life.  
Lexa started flipping through pages, slowing down when she realized the drawings were quite good and needed closer appreciation. Full pages were filled with scenes and portraits and landscapes, while other pages truly were just covered in random doodles and calligraphy.  
"What are you so nervous about?! These are great!" Lexa's fingers traced over the lines of a drawing, hovering just above the paper. Clarke was almost too transfixed by the flowing way her hand moved to answer.  
"There's just some, uh...that." Clarke stopped trying to explain as Lexa flipped to the most recent drawing. Clarke had been sketching as her friends sat around the television.  
The drawing was rough, a sketch in most areas, but she had started filling in details and shading. The focal point was Lexa. Clarke had captured her dozing in front of the TV that evening. Eyeliner smeared and eyes closed, her face had been soft and peaceful, Clarke had captured every detail so that Lexa felt she was looking at a photograph rather than pencil on paper.  
Lexa stared at the portrait, taking in how much care had been put into capturing her image. She didn't have the words to express what she felt. 

"I wasn't trying to be creepy or anything. I just -"  
Lexa sat up on the bed, pulling her long legs under her and turning to face Clarke.  
"You're just really beautiful." Clarke finished quietly, unable to meet Lexa's eyes, cheeks burning. Lexa reached out and touched three fingertips under Clarke's chin, pulling it up and toward her in one quick, gentle move. Her lips met Clarke's before the blonde could process what was happening. The kiss was slow and soft and Clarke kissed back, leaning into it and reaching out to tangle her fingers in Lexa's curls. Lexa moaned softly at the encouragement, feeling a gentle pull at the back of her neck. Clarke kept Lexa's lower lip for a moment as the other woman tried to pull back to find another angle. In the moment that they separated their eyes locked and Clarke could see the fire that burned there. Their lips crashed together again, stronger and more determined this time. Clarke's free hand began to wander over Lexa's body until it found its way around her waist, pulling her closer. Lexa let herself be pushed back onto the bed as Clarke pressed into her, shoving the books to the floor as she lay back on them. They landed with a loud crash, but neither seemed to notice. Clarke repositioned herself so she was again laying beside Lexa, propped up on one elbow, though this time their legs were tangled together and as much of their bodies were touching as possible. She cupped Lexa's jaw and pulled her in again, unable to think of anything else. Lexa's strong arms encircled Clarke, holding tightly even as she stroked her back and hip and thigh. Clarke gasped slightly against Lexa's lips when she reached the bare skin below the hem of her shorts. She kissed hard, slipping her tongue under Lexa's upper lip then quickly and gently biting, earning a gasp of her own. Lexa's hand followed skin back up, slipping under the loose fabric of the gym shorts that Clarke had chose to wear to bed. She knew this wasn't a good idea, but that thought was lost, buried in thoughts of Clarke and this moment and the feel of her lips and skin against her own. She continued to move her hand up Clarke's toned thigh until it reached its mark. Lexa shifted, rolling Clarke onto her back, kissing and nipping at the beauty's lips. Lexa smiled into her kisses as she found no barrier of underwear under Clarke's shorts. She stroked the course hair between Clarke's legs then teased a finger over her warm lips, silently begging her lover to let her in. 

Clarke grabbed Lexa's wrist suddenly, pulling back and sitting up.  
"Lexa. I- we... I can't-" Clarke tried to gather her thoughts into a coherent sentence, struggling to face the hurt look on the other girl's face. Lexa searched Clarke's face for an answer, she hadn't read the signals wrong, Clarke had wanted what she did, why had she stopped her? What had gone wrong? Clarke let go of Lexa's wrist and crawled to the edge of the bed to sit with her legs dangling off the side.  
Lexa sat up and nervously smoothed her hair back into place.  
"Clarke?" She hesitantly reached for her shoulder, the sudden lack of contact was almost painful, even the smallest touch would make her feel better. She pulled her hand back instantly as the door opened with a slight, but overwhelmingly loud creak.  
"Hey Clarke, are you- oh. Lexa. What's up?" Raven stood in the doorway, crutch under one arm to hold the weight that her missing leg could not. She had heard the crash of books hitting the floor from the room down the hall and come to investigate, not bothering to replace the prosthetic as she swung herself out of bed. Neither Clark or Lexa could come up with a reasonable response before Raven put the pieces together. The books carelessly thrown to the floor, the guilty look on Clarke's face and the Lexa's intense staring at her own hands, given the way that had been almost deliberately flirting when she'd arrived home, Raven had guessed that the possibility was there, but hadn't expected it from her oldest friend.  
"Right. You carry on, I'll just go back to bed and forget I was ever here yeah? See you guys at breakfast." Raven turned back down the hall, pulling the door closed. Clarke heard a muttered "didn't see that one coming" under the sound of Raven's crutch clicking against the tile.  
They sat for a moment, recovering from the abruptness of the last minute or so of their lives, then Lexa stood to go.  
"I should go too. It's late." Lexa took three steps toward the door before Clarke once again caught her wrist.  
"Lexa wait." Clarke pleaded, finding Lexa's palm and weaving their fingers together.  
Lexa turned back to Clarke, eyes threatening to spill over, a sight which devastated Clarke.  
"I didn't stop you because I don't want you. I didn't want to stop." Clarke said almost desperately, locking her blue eyes to Lexa's deep green ones. She continued evenly, regaining her composure to make the logical point.  
"But your brother is getting married to my best friend in two days...they're the most important thing right now. We can't, I can't let myself be distracted from that." Lexa nodded, seeing the logic in Clarke's reasoning, but her eyes still stung with tears.  
Clarke stood and stepped close to Lexa, reaching up to touch the gold gear that she wore around her neck. She fidgeted with it, zipping it back and forth slightly on its chain, holding Lexa's eyes until she could see the pain subside.  
"I want this, whatever it is, to happen. Ok? I don't know why, but nothing else matters when I'm around you.I don't know what will happen if we go down this road, when we go down this road. And it's just, right now..."  
"Lincoln and Octavia come first." Lexa finished. She wore a small smile now, Clarke's words reflecting her own thoughts.  
"And after this weekend, maybe we can see where this goes." Clarke backed up to sit on the bed again, dragging Lexa down beside her, stubbornly keeping hold of her hand.  
"Can I tell you something embarrassing?" Clarke asked, resting her head on Lexa's shoulder.  
Lexa reached up and pushed Clarke's hair away from her face.  
"Anything."  
"I've never been with a girl before." Clarke confessed quietly.  
Lexa laughed then, planting a kiss on the top of Clarke's head before the other girl sat up and frowned at her.  
"Don't laugh!" She pouted. Inside though she never wanted Lexa to stop laughing, it was musical and beautiful and perfect.  
"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at that. It's nothing to be embarrassed about Clarke. I've never been with a man before, I'm not scared to admit that. Don't worry about it ok?"  
"That doesn't count if you aren't into guys." Clarke quipped.  
"I am. I just haven't been with any. Don't assume Clarke." Lexa teased gently. Whenever Lexa said her name, Clarke's heart skipped a beat and she wondered if she'd be able to keep her hands and lips to herself until after the wedding.


	7. A+ for bedhead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The covert Flirt Wars begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is all you get for a bit. the next few chapters are still unfinished.

Abby started banging around the kitchen early, waking Lexa to an unfamiliar room.  
"Oh shit!" she sat up abruptly, on her feet in seconds. Clarke's room. Clarke's bed. Clarke.  
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit." Lexa felt panic rising in her chest, realizing where she was and what was likely to happen if she was caught here by Abby. Clarke stirred reaching for the hand she had been holding before Lexa had jumped up. The panic subsided for a moment as she gazed at her sleeping form. They had fallen asleep on top of the comforter, but Clarke had managed to kick it into a heap at her feet. Her hair was spread out over her pillow like a golden crown, her face was peaceful, but she was starting to wake, wearing a frown at finding Lexa missing. Lexa placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, pulling her out of sleep all the way.  
"Lexa?" she asked groggily, a smile playing at her lips at finding the beautiful wild girl standing over her. Then her eyes went wide with the same "Oh Shit" reaction.  
"Yeah..." Lexa said nervously.  
"Ok, wait. We just slept. We don't have anything to even lie about, we were talking, and we fell asleep. Thats all that happened." Clarke reached up for Lexa's arms and ran her hands down the muscled forearms to her calloused hands, holding them as she sat up. Lexa calmed, blue eyes holding green and bringing her back to reality.  
"And this?" Lexa asked, jerking their joined hands up.  
"This," Clarke paused, bringing one of Lexa's hands to her lips for a kiss. "Stays in this room for now. On hold until this is all over."  
"Linc and Octavia first. Yes Ma'am!" Lexa pulled her hands away and straightened into Attention posture.  
"Quit that! I'm not a Marine, and right now, neither are you. We're bridesmaids and we have a whole wedding to prepare today."  
"I'm always a Marine, Clarke," Lexa was suddenly serious "That doesn't change when I put on a dress and let my hair down."  
Clark straightened and climbed off the bed, forcing Lexa to turn to watch her move around the room.  
" I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Look, I'm going to help mom with breakfast, maybe she won't see you come out of here. Even though we don't have to lie, the fewer questions the better when it comes to her. And maybe we keep the flirting to a minimum around everyone, yeah?" Clarke pulled her hair up and opened the bedroom door.  
“No promises.” Lexa smirked, knowing she wouldn’t be able to help herself and that it would be endlessly amusing to make Clarke blush whenever possible.  
Clarke shook her head and took a few steps into the hallway then leaned back through the open doorway.  
"Oh by the way… I didn’t know it was possible to make that much bedhead look sexy, but A plus." she smiled as Lexa rolled her eyes and tried to smooth her insane curls, then disappeared to help her mother. Lexa followed her out a minute later after straightening the covers and pillows on the bed. waiting for Abby's back to turn, Lexa dashed for the stairs and snuck back to her room to at least comb her hair. Once she reached her own bed she found her reflection and opted for a shower. 

When Lexa returned to the kitchen, damp hair tied low behind her head, Octavia and Raven had joined the Griffins in meal prep.  
"Morning." she said trying to avoid Clarke's eyes and ignore the knowing look that Octavia and Raven shared. _'Thanks so much for keeping that secret Raven.'_ she thought, sitting down at the counter.  
"Hey Lex, you sleep ok?" Raven asked the question dripping with hidden meaning. Octavia elbowed her friend in the ribs, while Clarke was blushing furiously at the memory of Raven nearly walking in on them.  
Abby, oblivious to any innuendo tried to start up a different line of conversation, thinking to save the quiet girl from the terrible three, as she'd called them in their teens.  
"How was your appointment yesterday Raven? Are you liking the new prosthetic?"  
Raven only smiled, used to the doctor's interest in her medical procedures. Abby had been the first to the hospital after the accident and hadn't left Raven's side after she'd made sure Clarke and Octavia were alright. Even when Raven's parents had arrived, Abby insisted she get to talk to her doctors about how they planned to proceed. She'd fought against the amputation, but ultimately lost after Raven herself insisted. The new leg was thanks to a favor Abby had called in from some friends from the hospital.  
"It's great! The camera might not be able to tell it's fake." the girl lifted both pant legs to show that the new silicon covered prosthetic matched the skin tone of her remaining leg almost perfectly, it even ended in a realistic looking foot.  
"It's a lot easier to put weight on too. I owe you big time Abby." Raven gave the elder Griffin a side hug, keeping half of her attention on the skillet and the omelette she was working on.  
"So, down to business,"Octavia jumped in, eager to get back to her wedding plans, mostly so it would be over. "We've got the site at the park after 11 o'clock to get it all set up for tomorrow. So I thought we could head out there and get chairs and the lights put up after breakfast. I have to go in to the Station around two... the Chief thinks he's throwing me a surprise party." she grinned, knowing everything that was going on around her was something she prided herself on.  
"You are impossible to surprise, your team must not know you too well." Clarke laughed.  
"Yeah, well they're good guys, it's the effort that counts right?"  
"I think it's 'the thought that counts'" Raven teased.  
"But thoughts are not cake and presents." Octavia stuck her tongue out at the other girls. The three of them broke into uncontrollable giggles, the anticipation of the day to come making them overly excitable. Clarke turned to set plates out on the bar and caught Lexa eyeing her, a contemplative look on her face.  
"Oh crap, rude! Lexa, did you want coffee or something?" she reached for the mugs, trying to give Lexa something else to focus on before she gave the girls more ammunition to tease them.  
Lexa blinked, coming out of her zoned out trance, realizing that she'd probably been making what would have been a scene if the others hadn't been distracted.  
"Sure, that'd be good. Just black for me thanks, Clarke." She dropped Clarke's name carefully onto the end of her sentence just to see her reaction, having learned quickly that she could make the other girl's breath catch when she did. She succeeded but earned a quick scolding glare as Clarke recognized that she was doing it on purpose.  
_'We'll focus on Lincoln and Octavia, but I'm still going to have fun'_  
Clarke could almost read Lexa's thoughts from the smirk she gave her, hiding it behind her mug as soon as she was handed it, fingers brushing briefly in the exchange. Clarke had to take another deep breath, this would be a long wedding weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I know very little about prosthetic limbs, so I appologize if that doesn't sound right. All I know is athe usual standard prosthesis is a single metal rod with the saddle/harness whathaveyou and a "foot" piece, so I figure'd Abby would want to get Raven something really fancy, that she probably couldn't afford on her own for the wedding and because, well Abby and Raven are bros. :p


	8. Setting the Stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can the girls stop teasing each other long enough to get any work done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little best friend fluff as an interlude. Girls are so mean! :p

The five women were just finishing loading Raven's truck and Abby's car with decorations when Lincoln arrived, insisting that Lexa join him to pick up their mother from the train station. She protested but the thought of giving Indra a reason to hold a grudge for the duration of her visit was not an appealing one, so she relented.  
"Don't worry about it, I think we can manage the decorations, go spend some time with your mom." Octavia insisted when Lexa tried apologizing for bailing on them. The bride-to-be was warming up to Lincoln's sister much quicker now that she'd let loose a little more. She caught the sidelong glance that Lexa trained on Clarke as her fiancé pulled the truck out of the driveway. _What an odd pair._ She mused, smiling to herself as she piled into Raven's truck next to Clarke.  
"What are you grinning at?" The blonde asked her when the door shut behind her and Raven turned the engine over.  
"Probably how obviously in love you two are!" Raven answered for the younger woman.  
"We're not- wait, what!?"  
Octavia and Raven both cracked up at Clarke's alarm and obliviousness to how blatantly apparent she and Lexa's attraction was.  
Clarke breathed a deep sigh and covered her face with her hands slumping down into the bench seat.  
"That bad huh?" Octavia reached around Clarke's shoulders and gave her sister a squeeze.  
"I barely know her! And she's your fiancé's sister! And I didn't know I was this gay!" Clarke whined, still covering her face, hoping to just disappear.  
"Oh honey...." Raven shook her head, still laughing. "You knew a little. O and I had Backstreet Boys posters, you had SpiceGirls."  
Clarke dropped her hands to give Raven her patented 'so done with your shit' look.  
"Anyway," Octavia interjected before Clarke's stink eye turned into something meaner. "none of that matters Clarke. All I know is that you're obviously into her and she's obviously into you. So why should anything else matter? You can get to know her. I think she'd actually open up to you. She's a completely different person since you showed up, actually fun to be around. I'd personally prefer this version of her to be my sister-in-law. Lincoln says she's just been super shut down, almost in some kind of psychosis since their sister died and has only cared about the military. It's kinda nice to see what she used to be like, I didn't think it was possible." Clarke's eyes went wide.  
"Oh my god, I really don't know anything about her! They had a sister?! That's why she quit music... Wait, no. This is your wedding. I can not be obsessing over this. It can't happen. We are not hooking me up with your sister-in-law."  
"Nope, you're doing that all by yourself -hey! Don't punch the driver!" Raven was laughing again as she turned the truck into the park, showing the toll operator the day pass they had to set up for the wedding. She pulled through the gates and followed a short road to a small gravel parking lot that was bordered by huge pines and a wide walking trail.  
"Down Princess. You're here, that's all I need from you for this wedding, ok? Do what feels right, if that's hooking up with Lincoln's sister, go for your life. These things are stuffy enough without everyone having to hold back." Raven and Clarke both looked at Octavia like she'd sprouted a third arm.  
"When did you get so zen?" Raven asked.  
Octavia just laughed and stepped out of the car and moved to the bed to start unloading things that they would need to haul to the clearing down the path.  
Abby's car pulled up next to them and Clarke shot her two best friends her most serious look, climbing from the cab herself.  
"Not a word to Mom about this!"  
"Promise." Octavia said solemnly. Raven tried to hold in a snorting noise.  
"Raven!"  
"Ok, ok, I won't say anything to Abby. But you're gonna have to keep the heart eyes to a minimum or she'll catch on."  
"Who will catch on to what?" Abby stepped out of her car and started dragging her own collection of wedding things out of the back seat.  
"Oh nothing, just saying Clarke's professor might catch on if she keeps coming to class late."  
"What!" Abby almost dropped the box of vases she was holding.  
"She's kidding Mom! School is fine, and Raven's still a jerk." Clarke rushed to help her mother with an armload of table decorations. Abby shook her head with a small smile.  
"Raven, you are the reason my hairdresser can buy a new car every year from my haircolor alone."  
"Oh you don't have a single grey, you're ageless. Quit lying." Raven teased playfully.  
"Ladies! Can we focus?" Octavia called over her shoulder as she pulled a handcart of boxes and Raven's electronics down the trail.

They spent the next few hours setting up the beautiful archway that Octavia would be married under the next day, placing chairs and hanging Raven's lights from the trees along the path and placing them around what would be the dancefloor. The tables were arranged around the perimeter of the large clearing that the would host the ceremony and reception so that everyone would have a view of the dancefloor and everyone else in attendance. Having everything arranged circularly had been Lincoln's idea and Octavia made sure her best friends knew how poetic and romantic her soon to be husband was as they set the venue up to his specifications.  
Soon the clearing was completely transformed. Pastel green and cream toole was twirled and strung carefully from tree to tree and matching silks were tied into the 'branches' of the arch which was made to look like it had grown out of the ground that way, with natural wood still showing bark in some places. The effect looked like leaves hanging down from a canopy of tangled branches. Carved wooden signs told the guests to "choose a seat, not a side" and Proclaimed, "Mr. and Mrs. Trecrue" with the date. Places were set at the tables and held down by the vases that held river stones that would be moved to the center of the tables in the morning and be filled with fresh flowers. A collection of stones from Lincoln and Octavia's many hiking and camping trips lined the path that would serve as the aisle, a touch that Clarke was near tears about as Octavia rattled off the places each had been collected as they placed them. 

Back in the truck, the rest of the day's plan was laid out, Raven making the executive decision that they had to have one last raging party night as single women before Octavia "got hitched" and Wick "got any ideas". Raven's boyfriend had been hinting for some time that he might propose, but she wasn't sure she was ready to do this whole wedding planning ordeal over again for herself.  
"So, I'm aiming the bouquet straight for your face when I throw it yeah?" Octavia teased when Raven said as much.  
"First thing," Raven held up a finger, the middle one. "You'll be throwing it behind you and won't be able to aim. Second thing," she added another finger. "I'm only participating in the damn bouquet toss because I love you. And third thing," another finger. "If I do catch it, I'm lobbing it straight at Clarke."  
Clarke stopped laughing to turn a bewildered 'how could you' stare at the driver, who just shrugged and stuck her tongue out.  
"This means war Ray." Clarke narrowed her eyes and leered playfully at her friend.  
"What!? The rules are null and void if you don't have a significant other, you're totally safe from the bouquet juju! If I catch it, Wick will be down on a knee in a second! I think he's counting on it, the idiot." Raven pretended to shield herself from the imaginary lasers coming from Clarke's eyes.  
"But Raven, Clarke isn't safe from the juju! She'd have to marry Lexa!" Octavia could hardly finish the tease without bursting out into a fit of laughter that Raven immediately joined her in. Clarke just continued to glare at both of them.  
"You both suck. I want better friends." Clarke grumped.  
"We're sisters sweetheart, you can't get rid of me!" Octavia shoved Clarke, gently to avoid bumping Raven behind the wheel.  
"And I just find your misery so satisfying, I'm not going anywhere." Raven grinned.  
"Besides, if you wanted to get away from Octavia, you should probably not fall for her sister-in-law... That'll make you even more related... Is that possible, wait, is that legal!? Some kinda odd in-law-cest?"  
"Oh my god, please shut up!" Clarke cried, turning pink. "It's not going to go that far! It's probably not going anywhere! There is no 'it' as a matter of fact. We're not talking about this anymore!"  
"You're so precious when you're flustered." Raven was completely unfazed and just kept grinning to annoy Clarke.  
The middle girl just crossed her arms and pouted the rest of the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And next time, we get to follow the other truck and find out what Lincoln and Lexa are up to!


	9. Family Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln and Lexa go full sibling mode.

"Spill it baby sis." Lincoln demanded with a suspicious look once they were on the road to the train station.  
"I knew this was an ambush." Lexa rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in defeat. "And I'm not exactly a baby anymore Linc."  
"And you're not exactly your normal boring self anymore either." Her brother jabbed back. He'd always been Lexa's best friend until the military got a hold of her and Lincoln was suddenly watching his sister come back from being a robot and though he would never complain about it, he was curious. She slapped him upside the head, gently, but enough to get him back for calling her boring.  
"Hey! I will pull this truck over!" He laughed, rubbing the spot, his freshly shaved head showing a red mark.  
"I'm not boring. I've just been, focused." Lexa relented, trying to figure out how to answer his question without giving too much away. She wasn't sure what she was ready for him to know.  
"Lexi, I haven't seen you smile this much since you were fourteen. I just want to know what's changed. I got back from two days away and you're back to your old self." Lincoln's never ending supply of nicknames for her had ceased to surprise her years ago.  
"Maybe everyone's excitement is just rubbing off on me." She said slyly.  
Lincoln frowned and steeled himself for another hit, knowing he'd earn one with his next question.  
"It's Clarke isn't it?"  
Lexa tensed, then relaxed again with a heavy sigh.  
"You knew?"  
"I guessed, but Octavia might have texted me this morning about Raven finding you in Clarke's room last night." He'd hoped his sister would have told him herself of course, but he needed her to know he was alright with it all the same.  
Lexa nodded once and turned to stare blankly out the window. Her face gave no indication of how her mind was racing. There was silence for a few minutes before Lincoln spoke again.  
"Sooooo..... You're gay. Cool. Mom is going to lose it."  
Lexa whipped her head around with a look of horror. She had been so concerned with Lincoln and trying to put an easy label on whatever it was that she and Clarke were doing that she had completely forgotten that their mother would be around for the next few days. Indra was sharp, she would instantly know there was something up with her daughter and she would not stop until she was fully informed. Lexa wasn't sure about her mother's opinion on homosexuality and more than the worry that she would be shunned, she was terrified that the confrontation would ruin the wedding for her brother.  
Lincoln put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.  
"Chill Lex. She's gonna freak because she's not going to get grandchildren from you, not because you like girls. I mean, the two are kinda connected, but she doesn't care, I promise. She's just going to make my life hell until Octavia and I give her about twenty. She's in that stage of life I guess. I've never understood parents. They don't want you to have sex forever, and then suddenly they're begging for grandkids." Lincoln shook his head slowly, curling his lip in disgust and confusion. Lexa blinked, the tying to process what had just happened.  
"I like guys too." Was all she could think to say.  
"Oh. Okay." Her brother just flashed her a smile, glad that they were finally at least sort of communicating.  
"Can we not tell her right off though? Please? Clarke and I aren't together, or anything like that. We're here for your wedding, our mutual attraction isn't important, it's just a stupid thing."  
"I won't say anything, but I'm calling bullshit. Mutual attraction doesn't end years of being withdrawn and closed off and quiet. Stupid "things" don't make you change your clothes or the way you wear your hair. It's not some dumb little thing. Whatever it is. And my wedding? Lexa, the fact that you came, that you've helped Octavia plan and that you agreed to be in the damn thing, that's more than enough to deserve a little bit of happiness for yourself. Octavia and I have the wedding thing pretty much handled. We show up, we say things, we kiss and bam, done. No big deal. Everyone else is so worried about it being perfect, but honestly, we could get married in a crack shack with just the two of us and a half naked hobo, and we'd be happy. The event is for everyone else, to make it worth the trip, and for fancy pictures. Don't put this thing on hold or throw it away because of some fancy party we're expected to throw by our crazy society to tell everyone that we love each other. I've missed this you. If Clarke is the reason she came back, don't let her go." By the time he finished talking Lexa could only stare at her brother, mouth open.  
When she was able to speak again she had decided that she could still confide in her brother like she used to. He wouldn't see it as weakness.  
"Part of me knows you're right," she started nervously braiding a small piece of her hair behind her ear. "That this is good for me and to go for it, but the rest of me...."  
"Is scared?" Lincoln asked gently, trying to complete her incomplete thought. She nodded  
"She goes back to California next week, and I go back to base, if we start something here, it's just going to end horribly. If I get deployed, I can't be distracted, and if I got killed... I don't want to put anyone through that."  
"Have a little faith baby sis. if it's supposed to work it will. You're just going to wait until your enlistments up or you die to find someone to be happy with? That's kinda sad Lex. Why not give it a try at least, and distance doesn't have to be an issue, I mean, isn't there a Marine base close to Stanford? "  
"That's an extreme case of 'UHaul lesbians'."  
They laughed and didn't stop until they reached the station.  
"There's Mother!" Lexa pointed out the hard faced woman, standing at the curb of the loading zone.  
"Dad taught you so proper didn't he. It wouldn't kill you to actually call her Mom, ya know." Lincoln scoffed, pulling the truck up in front of Indra and sticking it in park. He tipped his head toward his sister, telling her it was her move, that she needed to be the one to greet their mother. Lexa sighed and opened the door, taking a few long strides to her mother.  
Indra was prepared for the normal stiff greeting she'd been getting from her youngest for the last ten years and was completely caught off guard when she was wrapped in a warm hug.  
"Hey Mama." Lexa said with a genuine smile when she pulled away.  
Indra took in the sight of her daughter for a moment, taking in everything, head to toe. Loose hair held back only by a few small braids, leather jacket and ripped jeans, Eyeliner and even a smile. For a moment she did not believe she was looking at the same Lexa that she had last seen four years ago at her Annapolis graduation. She had thought that this Lexa that stood before her was gone forever with her sister.  
"My baby girl. Look at you!" Indra beamed, holding her daughter by the shoulders as if she would run off if she let go.  
"Everyone with the baby thing today, jeez." Lexa muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.  
"You're always your mother's baby, don't sass. And don't you dare let this be the last time I see you for the next four years Alexandria!" the mother in her wanted to be cross, but she was too grateful to see her daughter's face, and smiling for a change, that she could only manage a light warning tone adding her full name to emphasise that she was serious despite being unable to keep the joy off her face.  
"Ooooohhhhh... someone's in trouble." Lincoln crooned, coming around the truck and wrapping an arm around his mother's shoulders, grabbing her bag from her.  
Lexa stuck her tongue out at her older brother and snatched the bag away from him, hauling it and Indra's other suitcase to the bed of the truck.  
"I promise Mother." she moved back to the cab and opened the passenger door for her mother, pulling the small back door open for herself, climbing into the small backseat.  
Lincoln helped his mother into the truck then got in himself and pulled away from the station.  
"Hows the wedding coming together? Everything going smoothly?" Indra asked her children as Lincoln merged onto the freeway.  
"Everyone's finally here, so that's the good news." Lincoln laughed. "Jasper had a little incident with a horse and Octavia is supposedly getting the venue set up as we speak. But Clarke came in last night, so with her and Raven helping, they're never going to finish." Indra smiled at this, having been around all three girls at a couple of family Christmases she knew how excitable and distracted they could get.  
"Told you I should have gone with them to help." Lexa intoned from the backseat, jabbing her brother in the shoulder with a finger.  
"I'm sure they'll get it together. Eventually."  
"Yeah, hopefully before the rehearsal tonight."  
"Have faith Baby sis." Lincoln repeated, laughing at the face he caught Lexa making in the rearview, at being called a baby again.  
"Octavia could make a mountain move if she told it to, I'm sure she can keep everyone on task. when she get's focused, shes a force, believe me."  
"I believe you, I've seen her at christmas, opening presents is a very structured event." Indra smiled remembering her daughter-in-law's preference for everyone to be done quickly, so they could get back to her turn as quickly as possible.  
"She'll get it done" Lincoln confirmed one last time. "Should we grab lunch on the way home? Are you hungry Mom? Lexa?"  
"I had a sandwich on the train, but if you two would like to eat, it's my treat." Indra waved him off, turning around to wait for Lexa's answer.  
"We had a huge breakfast this morning, I'm probably good until eighteen-hundred, honestly. Clarke made french toast, and I think I ate most of the plate." Lexa's mouth watered at the memory, the food had been good too.  
"Lexa, I haven't been in the Guard since I was twenty-two... twelve hour clock please." Indra had met Lexa's father, then Navy Lieutenant Heda, while her unit had been tasked with assisting a Navy convoy inland and she had decided to raise their family after her enlistment was over. Twenty three years out of the National Guard and fourteen years separated from the military entirely had erased most of her training and military conditioning.  
"Sorry, six o'clock. Which is when the rehearsal dinner is. We wrote the schedule in military time I was just reading it off in my head. I forget that the twenty four hour clock isn't standard." She knew her that almost nothing pissed her mother off like being reminded that her youngest child had left her for the military and her father who was himself, an extension of the institution. Politics was her game now, her mayoral term was going to wrap up with the next governors election that would hopefully name her the head of the state of Delaware.  
"That's the second 'we' I've heard from you. Are you actually making friends?" Lexa had also forgotten how sharp her mother was, never missing a detail. Lincoln chuckled and Lexa kicked the back of his seat.  
"I don't know about friends, but it's nice to get away from Quantico." Lexa told her mother what she knew she'd want to hear, only half making it up.  
Indra raised an eyebrow, having never heard Lexa wanting to be anywhere but with the Corp since she graduated. She let herself hope for a moment that her daughter would finally leave the military life behind as she seemed to have left the permanent depression behind.  
"So, home then?" Lincoln asked, seeing the look his mother was wearing and trying to distract her from prying further into Lexa's life.  
"Could you drop me back at Abby's house Linc? I still have to finish some things for the rehearsal and the reception."  
"Whatever you say Captain." Lincoln joked  
"I'm still waiting on that actually. Don't jinx it. I should have my silver tracks when I get off leave if the paperwork goes through, so can it, civilian." Lexa snapped playfully, instantly dashing Indra's hopes in one fell swoop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be another filler, but I accidentally threw in some background... oops. and while I'm proud of it, that means I have to write another chapter before I can post the next one that I already have written, so there's not a huge time gap. It'll be a short one.


	10. Practice Makes Party?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one takes the rehearsal seriously. Shenanigans ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some Linctavia!

The sound system wouldn't be set up until the next morning so Octavia hummed to herself as she stood with her arm in Bellamy's at the start of the trail watching Raven and Jasper then Clarke and Nick walk ahead of her. Her brother looked at her and chuckled slightly.  
"I take it you're ready?" He asked  
"If Kane was here tonight, it'd be for real, I'm beyond ready." Octavia bounced on her toes waiting for Clarke to reach her mark, her sign to start walking.  
"Ok, lets do this." Bellamy took a step forward on his cue and Octavia resumed humming, grinning wildly when she saw Lincoln standing there with an equally large grin on his own face.  
Lincoln stepped forward and took Octavia's hand from Bellamy and led her back to their place under the arch. Bellamy took his place opposite Lexa, who had walked with Lincoln, and Abby stepped forward to narrate how the rest of the ceremony would go from there.  
The Doctors best friend, (Clarke and Octavia both insisted that they should date) was the local minister, Marcus Kane and he was unfortunately unable to make it to the rehearsal that evening, so Abby improvised his speech to get the timing about right. She noticed her younger daughter getting bored, so she made a mental note to make sure Kane kept his dialogue short.  
Everyone was smiling and making jokes, Raven quoting “The Princess Bride” through Abby’s improv speech. She and most of the wedding party had broken into the alcoholic beverages a little earlier while they waited for everyone to get to the park for the rehearsal and were properly buzzed by the time they got started. When Abby finished with the traditional “you may now kiss the bride” Lincoln dipped Octavia and held her in a long kiss as everyone whooped and whistled and told them to “get a room already”. Clarke took a moment to look across Raven at Lexa who was shaking her head at her brother’s antics, smiling down at the ground, trying not to laugh. She didn’t even notice as the “newlyweds” started back down the aisle until Raven elbowed her in the ribs, mouthing “heart eyes” at her until she stepped forward to take Nick’s arm and follow her sister. 

A barbecue and some tables had been set up in the parking lot and Monty had started the food while everyone was laughing at Octavia and Lincoln. Bellamy took over when he reached the lot, letting Monty deliver an ice pack to his boyfriend for his still aching ribs. Lexa perched herself on the tailgate of her brother’s truck and watched her mother and Abby start an animated conversation, _‘probably about grandchildren’._ Raven’s boyfriend had shown up with more beers and some forgotten condiments, and was trying his hardest to make Bellamy let him help with the burgers, insisting that he was an amazing chef. Lexa liked watching the party from a distance, she could see everyone and how they interacted with one another and she could almost feel the happiness in the air, especially coming from her brother and his bride. She was lost in thought when Clarke appeared next to her, pinching the necks of two beers in one hand as she hopped up onto the tailgate to sit beside Lexa.  
“Beer?” she asked, holding a bottle out.  
“Thanks.” Lexa took the bottle and twisted the top off.  
“To Lincoln and Octavia.” she said cheerfully, tilting her bottle toward Clarke for a clink, which she received accompanied by a musical laugh.  
Lexa gazed at Clarke as the blonde took a long sip from her bottle, looking away before they made eye contact as the bottle came away from her lips, which as far as her eyes got.  
“Lexa?” Clarke asked quietly, unable to hide a smile as she recognized the look on the other woman’s face and her eye line.  
“Uhhhmm… right.” Lexa breathed a small laugh and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking skyward in embarrassment.  
“I’m gonna… Food.” she dragged her hand back through her hair then pointed toward the barbecue, sliding off the tailgate. She stopped half a step away and turned back to Clarke, tapping their beer bottles together one last time and holding her eyes for just a second before she had to retreat to a safe distance.  
“Well that was… what?” Clarke asked the empty air beside her as Lexa crossed the lot to where her adoptive brother was serving out burgers.  
“The hell was that?” Octavia appeared a moment later, handing Clarke a plate loaded with a burger, chips and an assortment of ranch dressing covered veggies.  
“I honestly have no idea.” she replied.  
“I think she’s afraid of you.” Raven quipped, finding her friends with her own plate in hand.  
“Lexa?! No way! Looked more like she had to bail before she made a scene in front of her mother and Abby.” Octavia raised her eyebrows at Clarke, grinning wickedly as a dusting of red took hold on her sister’s cheeks. “Clarke and Lexa, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-”  
“Do not make me give you a black eye before your wedding O. And what are you, five?” Clarke cut her off, clapping a hand over her mouth. A hand that the bride promptly licked to have it removed from her face. Clarke made a disgusted noise and Raved doubled over laughing.  
“Finish your food ladies, we have a party to attend!” Raven announced dramatically when she found her voice again.  
“It’s my party, I can show up when I want to! Which is now, granted, but I should invite Lexa.” Clarke glared at Octavia.  
“What!? She’s my bridesmaid too!” She stuck her tongue out and skipped off to extend the offer and tell the rest of the guests that they were leaving.  
Clarke finished the last of her veggies, grabbed Raven’s empty plate and can and walked them to a trash can. She found her mother and told her the plan, not to wait up and when to make sure they were awake in the morning, then headed back to the cars. She found Raven with Octavia at her own car, back from her mission to make Clarke’s night as awkward as possible.  
“She declined. Something about not seeing her mother in four years or some bull.” Octavia pretended to be mad, sending a mock glare toward her sister-in-law to-be.  
“So sad. Let’s go.” Raven threw herself into the backseat and pounded on the front headrests until the other girls were seated and buckled up.  
“Home, fancy dresses, then Club!!!!” She cried out like a battle charge, making Clarke laugh and cover her ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, that was cuter than I intended it to be. :p and now I can post the next chapter too!!!


	11. Liquid Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Handling things like adults... drunken, confused adults.

For the second time that day Lexa woke with a start and sat bolt upright at the sound of her bedroom door creaking open.   
"Lexa?"   
"Clarke?" Lexa found her phone and shined the light toward the door. The faint blue glow illuminated Clarke's form standing in the doorway, partially leaning on the doorframe. Lexa relaxed a little, confused by her sudden appearance at her door in the middle of the night, but off of high alert, knowing that she wasn't in danger.   
"What's going on? How was-"   
Lexa trailed off as Clarke crossed the room and climbed onto the bed. Before Lexa could collect her thoughts again, Clarke was pressing her back into her pillows, kissing her firmly. Lexa let herself get lost in the blonde's lips, reaching to hold her hips as she kneeled over her. A fleeting thought in the back of Lexa's mind asked where this had come from, but she tried to push it away, wanting to just enjoy what she'd been wanting since she'd met the girl at the airport, what she'd wanted to do earlier that night on the back of her brother's truck, what she couldn't let her mother see. The thought kept tugging at her, but she couldn't place what it was that felt wrong, hypnotized as she was by the closeness of Clarke's body and the press of her lips, the flick of her tongue against her lips. Clarke's hands began to explore until one found the zipper to Lexa's standard sleep hoody and began tugging it down, pressing herself closer to the Marine. The quiet zipping sound called Lexa out of Clarke's trance.   
"Clarke." she tried to put some authority in her voice, but failed completely, only managing a low moan as Clarke moved her lips to her jaw and neck, nipping at her ear at what she took as encouragement.  
"Clarke." she tried again, this time sitting back up and stopping Clarke's hand, holding her zipper firmly in place. Clarke sat back on her heels and Lexa reached for the lamp on the nightstand, clicking it on and flooding the darkness with warm yellow light. A mistake, she realized quickly, as now she could see Clarke's golden hair shining like a halo in an illuminated text and the silver dress that clung to her in a way that almost made Lexa jealous of it. Her blue eyes were lined and shadowed and her lips still held a trace of the pink stain that she'd worn that night. Lexa immediately regretted coming to her senses as she almost lost them again.   
It was Clarke's turn to wear the hurt and confused look that Lexa had worn the night before. She chewed the corner of her lip as Lexa looked her over for a moment before speaking.   
"Are you drunk Clarke?" Lexa kept her voice even, tasting alcohol in her own mouth that hadn't been there when she'd laid down that evening.   
"No! I... Only a little. Just enough to make me brave enough to come down here." She admitted quietly, hanging her head, hair hiding her face.   
Lexa frowned tilting her head and lifting Clarke's chin gently to look into her eyes.  
"Do I scare you that much?"  
"You don't ... But this kinda does. I have no idea what I'm doing. We hardly know each other and I can't stop thinking about you. I can't. I thought that maybe if we just-" she paused, not ready to say out loud what she'd been thinking. "Then maybe it would go away. Maybe I could just get through this week and go back to school and forget about it, forget about you. But now I'm scared that I won't be able to. And this wedding, Octavia is supposed to be the most important thing to me right now, my sole focus, and I can't even think. And she wants me to do this, and Raven's practically taking bets, but I don't do this, and I have to go back to the west coast and you're here and-" Lexa cut off Clarke's increasingly panicked rant with a soft kiss, pulling her in gently with both palms on her jaw.   
"Octavia wants you to do this?" She asked when she pulled away.  
"That's what you're taking from that all, that?" Even drunk, Clarke was sharp, finding Lexa's choice of rant topic to go back to odd.  
"You've been drinking, the rest is nothing I couldn't have figured out, or felt or thought myself for that matter." Green eyes held blue for a moment to let the meaning of that sink in.   
"I know Raven connected the dots and told Octavia, but when did this become a discussion topic?" She asked.  
"At the park this morning, and the rehearsal, and the club... we're apparently pretty obvious, and more interesting than Octavia's wedding, even to Octavia." Clarke said, finally calm again. She shivered, rubbing her arms against the drafty basement and the alcohol chills. Lexa smiled, having figured that Clarke's friends would catch on sooner rather than later, even without Raven walking in on them almost having sex. She pulled the corner of her sheet over, offering Clarke the space next to her to keep warm as they talked. She wouldn't let anything happen that night, not with Clarke drunk, but if the cat was out of the bag there was no reason not to have some cuddles at least. It had been so long since Lexa had had a real intimate connection with anyone that the small distance between herself and Clarke was almost akin to trying to walk on the pins and needles of a leg that's fallen asleep. Clarke crawled forward, tucking herself up under the blanket and nestling into Lexa's side. She wrapped her arms around the marine, sliding her freezing cold fingers under the hem of her hoody, making Lexa let out a startled yelp as she felt the cold on her stomach.   
"Jeeze, what are you, like zero percent body fat?" Clarke muttered, bewildered by Lexa's toned abs which she could feel even in her relaxed position.  
"Well, eight if we want to get technical, but you are about zero degrees Celsius. Let me grab you some warmer clothes. That dress is beautiful, but not for sleeping in, especially not in this ice dungeon of a basement, and you need to sleep." Lexa let concern win out over the desire to stay right where she was, with Clarke curled up around her.  
"But you'd have to get up, I don't want you to leave." Clarke pouted and Lexa realized the blonde was much more drunk than she'd claimed, reverting to a childishness that she'd never had expected from a lawyer. It was strangely endearing, to see this vulnerable side of Clarke, who, Lexa realized, was withdrawn in her own way with the others. She doubted that even Octavia had seen much of this side of her sister.   
"How about you keep my spot warm for me while I go get your pajamas. Do you have a warm pair upstairs?" Lexa extracted herself from Clarke's grip and moved to the edge of the bed, turning back to smooth a stray hair away from Clarke's face.  
"Top drawer, there's sweats and t shirts." Clarke was still pouting but she inched her way into the warm space the Lexa had left.  
"I'll be right back. Don't leave that bed, I don't trust you on the stairs right now." she tried to use her most gentle authoritative voice. Clarke just snuggled in deeper, burying herself in the warmth that Lexa left behind. Lexa smiled and headed up the stairs. 

Clarke's room was close enough to the stairwell that the light she had left on illuminated Lexa's path. when she stepped past the already wide open door she found Clarke's sketchbook open on the bed. She glanced at the page and found the portrait that Clarke had been working on the night before. Lexa grinned, imagining Clarke coming home from the party and glaring at the drawing, debating with herself on what to do and drunkenly deciding to come seduce her in the middle of the night. She made a mental note to never let Clarke forget that if they ever saw each other again after this trip. As she turned her focus back to her mission, finding the dresser and pulling open the top drawer, she heard the click of heels in the hallway. Octavia was standing there, unreadable past the frown and fists on hips, before Lexa could even move.

"The. Fuck. Lexa?!"" Octavia stepped into the room, slowly making her way to stand at the corner of the dresser. She was seething, aparently thinking the worst of Lexa in that moment, thoughfor the life of her, Lexa couldn't figure out what the worst could possibly be.  
 _'She's scarier than some of my drill sergeants like this'_ Lexa thought, backing a few steps away from the open drawer.  
"Where's Clarke?" Octavia had an edge to her voice, and no trace of drunkenness, telling Lexa that the bride-to-be had forgone the last few drinks of her last minute bachelorette party.  
"She's downstairs, I'm just getting her some warm clothes." Lexa tried to lay out her words carefully and slowly, hoping to calm the hotheaded woman down and not have a huge confrontation the night before they became family.  
"She's drunk Lexa! I swear to god, if you take advantage of that... She really likes you, don't screw it up! I-"  
"Octavia!" Lexa cut her off sharply. "I know! She came on to me. I stopped her and I'm not going to let anything happen. Do you really think I'd do that? I'm just trying to take care of her ok? That basement is freezing and she can't sleep in that dress. I'd carry her upstairs, but I got the feeling she didn't want to be alone tonight. And honestly, neither do I. I really like her too, I don't want to screw it up, believe me." Lexa looked into the other woman's eyes, trying to see if she understood that Lexa was being sincere. The glare softened, tight lips parted into small grateful smile and Octavia was suddenly hugging her soon-to-be sister-in-law.   
"I'm sorry Lex. I guess Clarke hasn't had a chance to party in a while and forgot her limits. I was just worried about her, came to check on her and you're going through her things, I guess I just thought, well, I don't really know what I thought." Octavia backed up a few steps and looked down at her feet, embarrassed by her irrational behavior.  
"It's ok, I get it, she's pretty special. I promise, I'm not trying to take advantage of her. To be honest, this is as much of a surprise to me as everyone else. I was not expecting..." she trailed off, not sure what exactly to call what was happening between her and Clarke. Being attracted to each other? Messing around? Falling in love?   
"Clarke." she settled on the most general. "I was not expecting Clarke."  
"Yeah, she can do that to ya. Alright, you have my permission to pursue my sister, but if you break her heart, I'll rip yours out." Octavia laughed. "Here, this one is her favorite. Go get her to bed, we have a wedding tomorrow." she grabbed a shirt from the drawer and tossed it at Lexa. Lexa grabbed a pair of black sweats and nodded her thanks as she left the room, slightly unnerved by the threat, mostly because she was sure Octavia was capable of it. 

"You can look you know." Clarke teased as she stripped off the silvery dress.  
Lexa sat at the corner of the bed, facing the wall. After dragging Clark from her cocoon of blankets she'd insisted she change and positioned herself to politely face the other way.  
"Not tonight beautiful. I can wait until you can make that decision sober." she answered, receiving small indignant huff in return.   
A few seconds later Clarke was dressed, and crawling back to the warmth of the bunched up covers. Lexa smiled and joined her, clicking off the lamp as she rolled over to pull her close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to get this chapter out, I haven't even thought about what comes next... Wedding day! AHHHHHHHHHHHH


	12. Nightmares and Dreamscapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep is not their strong suit.
> 
> (Edited 4/23)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, no wedding bells just yet. I think you'll forgive me though. :p

Of all the battles and enemies Lexa had fought, sleep was the worst. Logically she knew she should probably see someone about her anxiety and the nightmares that kept her awake at night, but she also knew that any diagnosis of mental instability would get her discharged from the corp. So she fought on, the never ending war against her subconscious, winning some nights and losing many more.  
This night was no different. She slept peacefully at first, cradling Clarke, burying her face in the golden hair that spread out across her pillow from Clarke's head nestled into her shoulder. But the dreams changed to nightmares soon enough.  


She and Anya on the front line of an assault, charging into a building to be met with a rain of bullets. Dragging her sister, bleeding and broken from the blood soaked room as the fire brought it down around them. Her own arm hanging useless at her side, chest and shoulder torn open from shrapnel from the roadside bomb. She was trying to hold on to her gun and failing as she was surrounded by faceless men. She knew they were smiling behind the shadows that hid them and suddenly they were wearing the familiar Navy uniform of the students at Annapolis that had tormented her four years there. And then she was behind them, hidden in a perch with their heads in the cross-hairs of her rifle, picking them off in rapid succession, smiling, remorseless. SHe knew this part, in the back of her mind, she remembered walking this dream over and over, not every night, but many, and some days when she wasn't asleep at all. She knew what would come next and she wanted to scream, make herself run and open her eyes and lock herself away from the world for it's own safety. but she couldn't, and the dream kept coming, like a train she couldn't stop and couldn't get off of.  
The men in her sights became clearer, faces taking shape and becoming recognizable. Only they weren't her attackers from the academy, they were Anya and Lincoln and her parents. They were Marines from her unit at Quantico, recruits she'd mentored and come to know and care for. And now, there was Octavia and Raven and Abby, and Clarke. Clarke whose arms were wrapped around Lexa's sleeping body, Clarke who had appeared like an angel into Lexa's life, made her find her old self in the layers of conditioning and psychosis. Clarke. She pulled the trigger and opened her eyes.

She wanted to close them again, retreat to a real sleep, a dark empty dreamless sleep, but she knew it wouldn't come. So she lay there, trying to slow her panicked breathing, focusing on a single spot on the ceiling. the predawn light finding its way through the narrow windows at the top of the outside wall painted the room in a dusty grey, just making shapes visible but hiding the details still. Lexa took another deep breath and worked on identifying every shape in the room, having familiarized herself with the layout and all the furniture in her spacious guest room for just this purpose, of bringing her back to reality.  
"Hey." Lexa jumped at the sound and the accompanying hand on her cheek.  
"Clarke. Why is your hand wet?" Lexa asked, both genuinely concerned and confused, and trying to fake being completely calm and collected.  
"It's not. You were crying." She risked turning her head away from the spot on the ceiling that she had returned her focus to. Clarke was propped on one elbow, leaning over her, still cupping her cheek and looking at her with sadness and concern.  
"How long-" Lexa choked, finding her throat thick.  
"Have I been awake? Since you started crying." Clarke finished for her, knowing the question before it was out of her mouth.  
Lexa wished Clarke were still drunk, wished she wouldn't remember seeing her weak like this. She felt as if Clarke had seen the whole dream played out on a movie screen, like she knew her darkest fears. She tried to get up. Clarke pushed her back down, keeping enough of her weight on her shoulder to keep her there, and using her legs which were already tangled in Lexa's to prevent her from struggling.  
"No. Tell me."  
"Clarke," Lexa meant it to sound like a warning, but only managed to sound like she was begging to get out of telling her, which she was.  
"No." Clarke said again. "This happens every night doesn't it? Thats why you couldn't sleep last night and came upstairs. And you haven't talked to anyone about it have you?" Clarke seemed equal parts, angry girlfriend, and concerned doctor, even though she was neither.  


"Yes. I have nightmares, I don't sleep well. Just like anyone who's been over there. It's not worth getting discharged over. It's just dreams." She tried to feed Clarke the lie she'd been telling herself for years.  
"Does every soldier come back dreaming of having to kill everyone they care about?" Clarke asked pointedly. Lexa's eyes widened.  
"You were muttering names." Clarke looked away for a moment, wondering if she should tell Lexa the rest.  
"And? How did you know I was-?"  
"Your hand. You looked like you were pulling a trigger. You were just twitching, but the pieces fit. I'm right aren't I?"  
Lexa stretched her head back into the pillows, wanting to sink into them and disappear rather than admit that Clarke was right, but still so very wrong, knowing she couldn't say one without the other. She took a long deep breath and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the hurt and fear that she knew would show itself in Clarke's eyes when she spoke again.  
"Yes, I kill everyone I care about in my nightmares. But not because I have to. Because I want to."  
Clarke was silent for a moment. Lexa expected her to pull away, to get up and leave, run away, but she just lay there, contemplating.  
"Nightmares are your worst fears, not your true self. Given the shit I'm sure you've been through, being afraid that you'll start to enjoy killing is a pretty rational reaction."  
"And that doesn't scare you? That that's my dream every night." Lexa furrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand how Clarke could even look at her now.  
"It terrifies me Lexa." she murmured in response. Lexa turned her head away and Clarke pulled it back toward her, forcing Lexa to look her in the eyes as she continued.  
"It terrifies me because it terrifies you. Watching you fight through that in your sleep just once... and every day you get up and act like nothing is wrong, you look at the people you kill in your nightmares and tell them everything is fine. That is terrifying to me, because I could never be that brave."  
"You're still here, you are that brave, Clarke. Anyone I've ever told can't even look at me, but you're still here." Lexa whispered, still disbelieving that what she was saying was even possible, that Clarke didn't think she was a monster.  
Clarke dipped her head and found Lexa's lips, reassuring her with a tender, sure kiss.  


"I know my nightmares are nothing compared to what you have to go through, but I needed someone to remind me once, that we aren't our nightmares, they aren't our reality. It's just noise in our heads."  
"You... " Lexa tried to start. She shook her head against the pillow, still trying to make herself believe what was happening.  
"No one has ever even tried to understand Clarke, you don't even know how much that means to me." Lexa lifted her head for another kiss only to be denied with a smirk.  
"Have you told a lot of people about these nightmares Marine?"  
Lexa's chest tightened, her breath catching. Clarke's flirting tease making her temporarily forget everything that had transpired since she had opened her eyes, intense desire taking over for a moment before she could clear her head enough to respond.  
"Only a few. Maybe none?" she corrected herself as Clarke raised an eyebrow at her.  
"You're flirting, that's not fair." Lexa mused quietly, searching for Clarke's lips once more.  
"No, probably not, but I kinda like you desperate like this." She brushed Lexa's lips for a brief moment, relishing the way she followed her as she lifted her face away.  
"Damn it Clarke." Lexa growled. Frustration taking the place of the pain she had woken to.  
"I'm sorry. You know I'm just trying to distract you.” Clarke smiled and any anger Lexa could have mustered melted away.  
“Mission accomplished. Kiss me. Please.” Lexa reached up, wrapping her arms around Clarke’s waist, guiding her closer, slowly, not forcefully, a part of her mind still afraid she would scare the beautiful woman in her bed away.  
“I thought you’d never ask” Clarke breathed in the space between the crash of their lips, losing herself in the kiss almost instantly.  


In that moment, Lexa knew nothing else, there was no war, no nightmares, no pain. Just Clarke. Just the pure raw energy of their connection, adrenaline and lust fighting for control of her body and mind. Her hands moved with a will of their own. One finding the waistband of Clarke’s sweats and slipping beneath it, trailing back and forth along the curve of her hips, the other moving along her spine, pulling the loose cotton shirt up with it until it caught, the space between the two women’s chests nearly non existent.  
“Lexa,” Clarke breathed against the marine’s lips, low and wanting. Lexa only hummed a response into her ear, breaking away to find her neck and peppering it with kisses.  
“We- ah! Hmmm, Fuck.” She was cut off by the sting of a quick nip at her collar bone followed by the soothing caress of Lexa’s tongue against the bruised flesh.  
“I know.” Lexa murmured into Clarke’s lightly freckled shoulder, revealed as she pulled the hem of her collar to the side from behind. “I don’t want to.” Lexa released the collar of Clarke’s favorite shirt and hunted once again for her lips.  
“I don’t want to either. But-” Lexa found what she was searching for, delaying the inevitable end to the ecstasy that was having Clarke’s body wrapped so entirely into hers.  
Clarke forgot for a moment her attempt to stop what they were headed toward, drowning once again in the kisses of this beautiful wild soul she held in her arms.  
“Fuck it,” she gasped as they parted for a moment. “I don’t care what we should or shouldn’t do. I want this. I want you, Lexa.” Clarke moved to a better angle to unzip the sweat-soaked hoody that kept her lover from her. Lexa gasped as the cold air hit her skin, arching into the exposed skin of Clarke’s stomach, partially for warmth and partially out of the unexpected pleasure the new sensation brought her. Lexa took advantage of the momentary space between them to lift Clarke’s shirt the rest of the way over her chest. Clarke crossed her arms, grabbing the bottom hem and pulled the shirt the rest of the way over her shoulders and head, shaking her hair as it fell loose from the shirt. Dropping the shirt behind her Clarke let her hands wander over her soldier’s body. She was skinny and muscled, and Clarke wanted to trace every line and shadow of her, with a pencil and with her fingertips. Lexa’s own hands pulled at the sweats she had retrieved for Clarke earlier that night, pulling them as low as they would go, her own leg in the way as Clarke kneeled over her. Their eyes met for a moment, each trailing up the newly discovered mystery of the other’s body until they reached each other. Lexa pulled herself up to meet Clarke’s lips once again, letting the open sides of her hoody fall away to expose her own chest. Clarke reached for the back of Lexa’s neck, gripping a fist full of her curls as she pulled them apart to appreciate what had been revealed to her. Lexa’s frustrated moan and a glint of silver made Clarke raise her eyebrows once again. Lexa had to think for a moment to remember what it was that Clarke had seen to make her so intrigued. She glanced down at her breasts and laughed. One nipple still held a piercing from when she was a reckless teenager.  


“Just one?” Clarke asked, tentatively reaching to swirl her thumb around the jewelry, the spell of wild lust broken.  
"I was, We’ll say, convinced? to get them done... when I was fourteen. But uhm… I couldn’t keep them clean, and the one got infected. I never had the heart to take the other one out.” She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore Clarke’s fingers, and the way she was watching her lips as she spoke. She tried to keep her own eyes on Clarke’s, but the dawn light that had filtered into the room made her naked skin glow a pale gold, her late summer tan having yet to give way to fall.  
"There's more to this story isn't there?" Clarke asked, tugging slightly on the silver bar, making Lexa bite her lip to cover a moan.  
"Yes, and you're not going to hear it." Lexa laughed slightly. "I have to keep some of my secrets."  
Clarke pulled her hand away from it’s errant wandering and clasped it to her other behind Lexa’s neck.  
“I guess this brings us back to ‘we really shouldn’t’”  
“Fucking Shit!!!!” Octavia’s voice echoed down two flights of stairs, signalling the bride was awake, and royally pissed.  
“Actually, I think that does it.” Lexa grimaced, pointing upwards and biting her lip.  


“I should probably go see what’s wrong…” Clarke said reluctantly.  
Lexa reached around and picked up Clarke’s shirt, pressing it to her chest with one last kiss.  
“Let’s go then. That sound’s like trouble and you are not going up there alone.”  
Clarke laughed as she pulled her shirt down and her pants up, swinging her leg over Lexa’s to roll off the opposite side of the bed.  
“I want to be mad…” Lexa said, rezipping her hoody  
“But this is her day.” Clarke finished.  
“Unfortunately for me, yes.”  
“This,” Clarke kissed her cheek as they moved toward the door.  
“Is not over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm possibly procrastinating on writing the actual wedding because I think that'll be the end of this particular story.


	13. Preperations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding day mornings are chaos.  
> Always kick your cat out the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More sappy stuff!

Clarke led Lexa up the double staircase of her childhood home by the hand and Lexa couldn't help but feel that she was getting the grand tour for the first time despite having been upstairs to where Octavia and Bellamy's rooms were many times during her stay. The upstairs had been an extra living room space when the Griffin's had bought the house and had turned into storage for Jake's things after he passed away. Abby had the space renovated for her adoptive children, adding a spacious room for each of them and a full bathroom, even though Bellamy had been about to turn eighteen and was already set to move away to college. When Octavia's bridesmaids reached the top of the second flight of stairs they found the cause of Octavia's distress, or what they hoped was the only cause.   
"Murphy!" Clarke crooned, scooping the ragged old cat off the floor in front of Octavia's partially open door.  
"Did you scare your Momma O?" she held the cat up and he placed his paws on her face when she leaned to kiss his head.   
"Ok jerk, I get it, you still don't like me."   
Lexa choked back a laugh, as Clarke set the moody cat down and shooed him back down the stairs.   
"What?"   
"I don't even know where to start. Octavia scared of a cat, or you talking to it like it's a person." Lexa grinned and Clarke wanted to hold her again, only slightly more than she wanted to flick her on the nose for being a smart ass.  
"Murphy is people!" Clarke cried, wearing her best 'I'm wounded that you would say such a thing' face.   
"Murphy is Satan!" Octavia slammed her door back, standing there in her robe, holding her wedding shoes by the ankle straps like they'd been dipped in poison. "He threw up in my shoes! My shoes for my wedding. My very expensive shoes, for my wedding! That is today!" She thrust the shoes out at Lexa when Clarke refused to take them, holding her hands up in surrender. Lexa dutifully took the shoes, inspecting them.   
"I was not aware cats could vomit in technicolor." She noted, turning to place the shoes on the step behind her.   
Clarke looked horrified for a moment then composed herself to try and calm her sister.  
"Ok, ok, look O, we'll get the shoes cleaned, we have all morning still. And what's a wedding without one minor disaster right?"  
"Are you trying to jinx me even more Clarke? Your cat already sabotaged my shoes, are you really going to be the one that says 'at least it can't get any worse'?" Octavia scowled and Clarke backpedaled, trying to think of something that would counter her superstitious blunder.   
"Well, It's not going to rain at least. I checked the fancy radar and everything. So there's that."  
Octavia dropped her jaw in stunned silence for a moment, unable to think of words to describe how unhelpful Clarke was at that moment.   
She was saved from a proper scolding by Raven calling up to check if everything was ok from the bottom of the stairs. Lexa brushed her fingers down Clarke's arm, squeezing her hand as a means of excusing herself, and picked up the shoes to bring them downstairs so she and Raven could start trying to restore them.  
"Oh. My. God." Octavia stared at Clarke's now empty hand, completely derailed. "She didn't listen to a wor-"  
Clarke clamped a hand a over her sister's face, grabbing the collar of the plush robe she wore to drag her back into the bedroom.  
"It's not what you think. We didn't." she hissed, not wanting her mother to overhear what would be a very awkward conversation and not wanting Raven to find out by Octavia shouting through the house. She chose to leave out the fact that it was Octavia's yelling that had ultimately stopped them.   
"Can we keep focused here? Wedding remember?" Clarke tried to distract her again, reminding herself to discuss boundaries with Lexa for the rest of their time together. Not that she didn't love the way Lexa's fingers felt tracing down her arm, making every tiny hair stand on end.

"Oh no, we're talking about this." Octavia walked further into the room and found her bed, gathering herself up to sit cross legged on the corner to wait for Clarke to spill her secrets.  
"Nothing- we didn't get that far, ok? And you were the one who said go for it!" Clarke sat next to her, defeated but determined to not lose this argument completely.   
"Didn't get that far? But almost? Dammit, I told her-"   
"Told her? Octavia, I can take care of myself. I threw myself at her last night, and she wouldn't go through with it. I don't think you have to tell her to be good to me O."   
Octavia read an odd sadness in Clarke's face, like she was remembering something painful as she spoke. She softened, relaxing again, shoes and anger forgotten for the moment.  
"Do I have to tell you to be good to her?" She asked playfully shoving the blonde to shake her from her memories. "She is going to be my sister-in-law after today, I have someone new to be protective over." Clarke rolled her eyes as Octavia grinned at her, both of them knowing that Lexa would almost be offended at the thought of needing someone to protect her.   
_'She does though. She needs someone to protect her from herself'_ Clarke thought.  
A moment of rare awkward silence passed between them, before Clarke shook her head and flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.  
"You're getting married today." She stated breathless, like she couldn't believe it. Octavia grinned again then squinted and frowned."Oh shit, I'm getting married today."

"'Oh shit'?"  
"Not like that kind of 'Oh shit'. Like it's actually happening! I'm marrying Lincoln. Today." Her smile grew as she spoke, then fell again. "And my shoes are ruined!"  
Clarke couldn't hold herself together long enough to try and reassure her that Raven and Lexa would fix the shoes. She broke into wild laughter, pulling Octavia into it because that was Clarke, if she laughed, you laughed, you couldn't help it.   
"Murphy is your cat by the way. You brought this on yourself. I wanted the little white one, but you had to have the weird patchy brown one. He hates me and you know it. He's probably not happy that you left him with Mom." Clarke reminded her sister. They'd gone to the shelter the day Octavia and Bellamy's adoption was finalized and picked up the scraggly kitten as a celebration. He'd barely been weaned and Octavia wouldn't let him out of her sight, letting him snuggle up under her chin every night.   
"You're going to hold that over my head forever aren't you?"  
"Yep." Clarke grinned as she hopped up. "Now, lets get you ready!"

 

Getting ready consisted of braiding her hair so the stylist would have something to work with later, and laying out everything they needed. Dress, jewelry and makeup were set out neatly before they were called downstairs by the smell of breakfast and Abby's summons.   
Octavia's favorite bacon and blueberry pancakes meal was laid out on the table, four small, beautifully wrapped boxes set around the plate at the head of the table.   
"Abby, what's this?" Octavia questioned, even as she reached out to touch the shimmery wrapping on each box. Raven and Lexa joined them at the table, the shoes, successfully rescued, were drying in the laundry room.  
"Wedding gifts. It's your something borrowed, blue, old and new."   
Octavia sat, unable to decide which to tear into first, the food, or the presents.   
"Eat." Raven said, moving the boxes to the side. "You'll get syrup on everything." She, Clarke and Abby laughed, knowing it was absolutely true. Octavia could not resist the call of pancakes, and it always got messy. 

They ate, sharing stories and making jokes. Raven had to tease Octavia for the time she'd called in the middle of the night to explain every detail of her first date with Lincoln and how she wasn't sure if she would see him again.   
"Imagine where we'd all be if she'd followed through on that." Clarke laughed. She looked over to Lexa and smiled, eyes telling her that she was glad that hadn't happened. Lexa gripped her hand under the table, returning the message. _'To hell with boundaries.'_ Clarke thought. Lexa's touch was electricity, making her feel confident and strong at the same time as making her weak in the knees and making her breath catch. Just like everything the other woman did.   
Raven coughed, catching the exchange, noting the way Lexa's face became so soft when she looked at Clarke, recognizing it from all the times she'd seen Lincoln give Octavia the same look. She placed the blame for nearly choking on a rogue blueberry, for Abby's benefit so she wouldn't ask questions, as she stared wide eyed at Clarke. Abby looked concerned for a moment but had to excuse herself to answer the landline which had begun to ring, doubtless a family friend who was calling to congratulate Octavia. Abby was used to fielding these calls already so she left the girls to take the call in the living room.

"Dish." Raven said as soon as she was out of the room.  
"Raven." Octavia warned, knowing Clarke and Lexa didn't need an interrogation.  
"Well you obviously know, I want in!"  
"Well," Lexa interjected before the two friends could get into an argument. She looked from Octavia to Raven. "Clarke and I don't really know right now, so there's nothing to tell."   
Raven raised an eyebrow at Clarke for confirmation. Clarke looked to Lexa, squeezing her hand before answering.  
"We're here for Octavia, Raven. Lexa and I will figure out the details later, and you'll be informed, I promise. It's just not the right time to think about it, not today."  
"But you're totally banging aren't you?" Raven teased, accepting the explanation, but refusing to let Clarke ever have the last word. She fully expected a denial, which would cement her place as the winner of the conversation.  
"No" Lexa said quickly, though not quick enough to beat Clarke's "Yes."   
Clarke held Raven's eyes with a look of total confidence as her best friend gaped at her, finding no words.   
"No we're really not. But I win that one Ray." Clarke caved a few seconds later, satisfied that she'd won the game the two of them had been playing for years.   
"What just happened?" Lexa asked.  
"Don't even bother trying to figure them out." Octavia said in way of explanation. "They seem to have some sort of game where they try to stun each other into silence so they can't get the last word in. At least I think that's how it works."  
"I wouldn't have won if she called my bluff... but I'm just that good." Clarke stuck her tongue out and Raven glared.  
"You can't bluff though!" Raven cried, bewildered.   
"Apparently I can. Law school teaches you amazing things." Clarke countered.  
"Round two." Octavia muttered rolling her eyes. Lexa leaned around Clarke, who was still staring down Raven, to question Octavia.   
"There's rules to arguing now?" Octavia just shrugged and took a bite of bacon. 

The front door opened before the game could escalate, sending Octavia running into her brother's arms.   
"What are you doing here Bell? You're supposed to be with Lincoln!" She looked at him with concern and Bellamy held up a hand, stopping her from asking if something had happened.  
"Don't worry, I tied him up in the jeep, he'll be at the altar, on schedule, no running away."  
"Bellamy!" Octavia shoved her brother in the chest and he wrestled her into another bear hug, pinning her arms down to prevent anymore hitting.   
"I'm kidding. Nick has him fully distracted, watching football. It's not a great game, so I thought I'd come check on my little sisters. Plus your mother-in-law is cleaning your house obsessively, it's scary."   
"Uh huh." Octavia wiggled free and tapped her foot at him, eyes narrowed. Lexa laughed from her place at the table, picturing her mother nagging Lincoln about the state of his house.   
"I told him to come. These present's aren't going to open themselves, I thought you might want some help." Abby walked back into the kitchen, her phone call clearly having been with her son.   
"Points to Moms, fake phone call distraction, sneaky." Raven quipped, pushing her chair back and grabbing two of the boxes, taking them to the living room. Lexa and Clarke followed suit, dropping their joined hands before Abby noticed.   
"How's your wedding day been so far O?" Bellamy asked as they followed.  
"Murphy barfed in my shoes." She scowled.  
"That cat is Satan." he replied, laughing.

Abby took each present and distributed them to Bellamy, Raven, Clarke and Lexa as Octavia found her place in the comfiest recliner.   
"Oh my god, you guys had this all planned out!" she exclaimed when she noticed Abby had her camera recording from the window sill, and how deliberately each present was handed to a specific person.   
"I can't take credit." Abby admitted nodding to her daughter. Clarke grinned.  
"I told you I could plan from across the country!"   
"I love you Clarke. This is really sweet. Can I have my presents now?"   
"Moment over." Raven narrated, laughing at typical impatient Octavia. "I'll go first!" She stood, and gently handed the bride her package, it was the largest of the four, her Something New.  
Octavia hesitated a second, making herself take in the moment, this wasn't a birthday or Christmas, these presents would only come once, the unwrapping was just as important as what was inside. She peeled the wrapping back and opened the paper box. Inside was a delicate lace shawl, the silk threads matched perfectly with the cream and green of her dress and the wedding decorations. The pattern was intricate and closely woven, so it would fight off the evening chill as they danced the night away under the stars and trees. Octavia beamed at Raven as she held the soft lace to her cheek.   
Lexa stepped forward next, placing a much smaller box in her hand.   
"Mother wanted you to wear this. Something Borrowed."   
This box held a small pin, a silver bird perched on a bronze tree branch. The etching was worn down, but the detail was beautiful all the same.   
"It's a Trecrue family heirloom, It was Mom's something borrowed too, before Grandmother passed, Lincoln got to hand it to her the morning she married my father." Lexa explained. "Welcome to the family."   
Octavia jumped up and hugged her, an unexpected amount of emotion rising to the surface.  
"Thank you Lexa. I can't even tell you how much that means."   
Lexa could only smile, letting Clarke step forward with her gift.  
"I'm afraid I can't really follow that, but Blue is hard when your color is green." She apologized with a laugh, handing her sister another small box, wrapped in metallic blue paper.   
"I know you were planning on just wearing the one set of earrings but-"   
"They're perfect Clarke! You know I'd freak out halfway through the night that my piercings would close up." She pulled the blue pearl posts out and put them in the second position on her earlobe. The box also held slightly smaller blue opals, which she quickly placed in the last hole.   
"Love you O." Clarke said, giving her a hug before returning to her seat between Lexa and Raven on the couch.   
Bellamy stepped forward then and seated himself on the arm of Octavia's chair. He was quiet as he handed a small black ring box to his little sister, having already removed the wrapping himself.  
She looked at him quizzically, not understanding why he suddenly seemed so sad. she moved to tip the lid back and he placed his hand gently over hers, stalling for a moment.   
"I talked this over with Lincoln first, so don't freak out ok." he let her hand go and she pushed the box open, still giving her brother the strangest look.   
"Wha-" a simple gold band with a single inset diamond lay there on it's pillow.  
"It was Dad's. He would have wanted you to give it to your husband." 

Octavia's eyes filled, threatening to spill over, the first tears of many to come that day she suspected.  
"Bell." Octavia choked up, throwing her arms around her brother who had tears of his own, happy ones for his sister, and sad ones for their parents not being there for her on her wedding.   
"They'd be so proud of you Octavia. I'm proud of you. He's a good man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Murphy is a cat.


	14. Mister and Missus Trecrue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding bells are finally ringing

The sun was just brushing the tops of the tall trees of the clearing when Lexa stepped onto the path, her dark green dress a match to the shirt her brother wore under his ivory suit. Lincoln grinned at her, eyes dancing, though his arm was shaking under hers.   
"Nervous?" She asked under the smile she wore for the camera and the guests that had turned to watch them make their way to the arch in the center of the clearing.   
"Waiting for her to walk out of burning buildings is less nerve wracking than waiting for her to walk down this damn aisle." Lincoln muttered behind his own smile. They both grinned as they reached their marks. Lexa gave Lincoln one last hug and stepped back to where she was supposed to stand, leaving him to stand under the entertained branches of the archway, eyes looking impatiently back down the way they came. 

Raven and Jasper were the next to arrive, arm in arm in their own matching finery. Raven's dress was the a longer cut than Lexa's, but the one shoulder strap and corseted back were the same. When she and Jasper parted and she joined Lexa on Octavia's side of the altar she was grinning.  
"Our girls are beautiful tonight!" She whispered, leaning ever so slightly into Lexa's side.   
"Our girls?" Lexa muttered in return, confused until Clarke came around the bend in the trail with Nick.   
"Down girl," Raven chuckled as Lexa's jaw dropped ever so slightly. "wait til you see Octavia, I grew up with those two and I'm even feeling a little gay."  
Lexa bumped the other woman with an elbow, unimpressed with her jokes.   
Clarke was stunning though, her gown was the same as Lexa and Raven's but accented with a cream colored under skirt that flashed through the cut in the leg with each step. Lexa had left to join Lincoln and her mother while the others were still getting their hair done, missing out on seeing the other girls in their dresses before the ceremony. Seeing Clarke walk down the aisle like this, Lexa felt like it could have been her own wedding. Her golden hair, styled in the same way as Lexa and Raven's, was braided up in a crown around her head and strung with pearls, making her appear angelic in a way that none of them could ever hope to achieve. As the pair passed Clarke chewed her lip slightly, as awed at Lexa as the other was of her. Raven looked from one to the other as Clarke took her place, rolling her eyes at the deliberate attempt the two made to avoid eye contact.   
"Oh my god, you two are embarrassing..." Raven moaned quietly from between them.   
"Hush, here comes Octavia. And don't be an ass." Clarke silenced Raven with a quick glare, smile never dropping from her face, too happy to really let her friend's antics get to her. There would have been a witty comeback if the music hadn't changed at that very moment, signalling the Bride's arrival. 

Octavia entered the clearing on her brother's arm, radiant smile faltering as she held back tears when she laid eyes on Lincoln who had brought his hand to his mouth to hide his own emotional reaction. If Clarke was an angel, Octavia was a goddess. Her dark hair was curled and pulled away from her face in intricate lacework, dotted with pearls, and left to trail down over one bare shoulder. Layers of flowing silks and sheer lace in a scale of greens and creams, skirted her white gown, each crossing the other at a different angle so that nothing was fully obscuring another. She seemed to flow through the clearing like a breeze carrying a train of leaves behind it.   
Lincoln stepped forward, tearing his eyes from Octavia's only long enough to accept Bellamy's handshake and approving nod, before taking both of her hands and stepping back into their places. Lexa saw then that Lincoln had been right when he said it didn't matter where they were married, neither of them could take their eyes off the other's, nothing else in the world mattered to them in that moment. They stood patiently through Reverend Kane's speech, and recited their vows as rehearsed, never looking away from each other, both smiling ear to ear. When the time came to exchange the rings, Nick and Clarke stepped forward. Clarke traded Octavia's father's ring for the bouquet and Nick fumbled to release Octavia's ring from his suit's inside pocket. there was a short laugh through the crowd of assembled guests as the Best Man triumphantly held the ring out, pulling a torn thread from the setting before letting Lincoln take it.   
"Thanks Nicko" Lincoln muttered, rolling his eyes with a smile at his lifelong friend. He turned back to Octavia and Kane prompted her to repeat the binding words as she slid the ring onto Lincoln's finger. With his right hand, Lincoln reached up and wiped the single tear his bride had allowed to fall away from her cheek. She smiled and pressed into his palm for a moment, drawing a wave of "Awww"'s from their guests before he pulled back to take her hand in both of his, slipping the ring into it's place, repeating after the reverend without hesitation. 

They were both grinning again, Octavia bouncing on her toes slightly, knowing what came next. when Kane announced the traditional "You may now kiss the bride." Octavia threw her arms around Lincoln's neck, forcing him to step back for balance as they fell into their first kiss as man and wife in classic Octavia style. Cheers rang through the trees, following them as they parted, took each other's hands and ran back down the path laughing while their friends and families scattered wildflower seeds around them as they passed. The rest of the bridal party followed, pairing off as they'd come in, Bellamy and Lexa taking the rear together now that their siblings had literally run off. 

The group met up with the newlyweds in the wedding party tent that had been set up for them in the lot. With the formalities over there were hugs and tears and laughter all around as the eight of them emptied a couple of bottles of champagne. An hour of private partying later and the Mothers-In-Law had gotten the clearing set in reception mode, ushering in caterers and rearranging chairs to clear the dance floor. Guests milled about or were finding their seats when the bride and groom returned, followed by their friends and siblings, now an unorganized, and slightly drunk pack rather than an ordered procession. Cheers went up again as the newlyweds greeted and welcomed everyone, thanking them for being there on their special day and inviting everyone to help themselves to the food and beverages that were provided.   
Toasts came from around the circle of tables as everyone ate, clinking glasses prompting a kiss far more often than anyone actually spoke. By the time plates were cleared and the music was turned up, most everyone in attendance was at least tipsy and after the obligatory, traditional dances were done, the dancefloor came alive. 

"We made it." Lexa dropped into an empty chair beside Clarke after her dance with Lincoln.  
"Right?! God I was so nervous I'd screw something up! I swear I was more nervous than Octavia, she's practically made of stone!" Clarke laughed, nerves of the long day behind them slowly fading as the alcohol took effect. Lexa wanted to make her laugh again, the sound was music to her, and she was almost sad when it ended.   
"Lincoln was shaking the whole way down the aisle, he's such a big baby, it's kind of precious." Lexa added, gaining another laugh, forcing her to smile even wider. They sat there side by side for a few long moments, taking in each others company until Clarke broke the silence.  
"You look amazing by the way, I don't know why I haven't already told you that. I haven't been able to stop thinking it all evening." Lexa blushed, looking down into her glass, similar words having been playing at the tip of her tongue since she'd sat down. Clarke looked over, smile cracking into a full laugh when she noticed the blush.  
"Are you blushing Marine? Lexa Heda, blushing. I didn't think it was possible!"   
"Don't tease, I'm out of my element!" Lexa looked up long enough to make a face before she had to look away again, Clarke's smile blinding her. "The formal events I'm used to require full uniform, and fancy waltzes. Civilian parties with beautiful women giving me compliments is, different, and I don't have my sword."   
Clarke bit her lip and had to look away for a second to avoid falling into Lexa's arms right that second, this new socially awkward side of her was unfairly cute. She forced herself to carry on the flirting game, knowing that they were well and truly lost in each other and the outcome was inevitable.   
"Marine parties sound like a blast, I think I'd like to see one one day. Are there swordfights?" she raised an eyebrow, waiting for Lexa's response.   
"Ha! Unfortunately no. But perhaps you would do me the honor of being my date for the next one?" Lexa asked, formality ruined by her grin.   
"I would love that." Clarke breathed, unable to come up with any sarcasm or witty remark she reached for Lexa's hand. She was rewarded with a kiss on the back of her hand before Lexa let their fingers intertwine.   
"Me too." she whispered into the kiss.   
"Dance with me." Lexa said after another heartbeat. Clarke gapped for a second, thrown off.   
"Our mothers..." she started cautiously, unsure how either woman would react to their daughters dancing like a couple.  
Lexa found her mother in the crowd, talking to some old friends on the opposite edge of the dancefloor.  
"I don't care." she shrugged. "I want to dance. With you. Unless you don't want your mother to know. I understand if-" She backpedaled, realizing that Clarke might not be as comfortable with disappointing her mother.   
"No, I don't care either. My mom doesn't make my decisions, and I think she actually likes you, so she can't really say anything. Shall we?" Clarke cut Lexa off, standing and pulling her to her feet. Lexa rose, wrapping an arm around Clarke's waist to drag her close, surprising her with a kiss.   
"We shall." She said as they broke, both grinning when they heard Raven and Octavia scream and high five each other from nearby.   
"Bout Freaking Time!" Octavia laughed, meeting them at the center of the dancefloor.   
"Three days, the tension was killing me! So? Can I assume with public displays of affection comes official couple status?" The bride pulled them both into a hug, where they were quickly sandwiched by Raven. Clarke shrugged her two best friends off.  
"Nuh...yeah...uhmmmm?" She looked at Lexa for the correct answer, receiving a slight nod that said _"If that's what you want, that's what I want."_  
"Yes." She corrected herself, clinging to Lexa's side with a wild grin. Lexa kissed her cheek then turned her attention briefly to her Sister-in-law.  
"Now, Octavia, Raven, If you'll excuse us? I would like a dance with my girlfriend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END!  
> Just of this arc. I promise! The next story is in progress, picking up eight months later. It's a little darker, but there's plenty of (read: mostly) fluff.  
> Bookmark the Series if you want to keep following this AU!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!  
>  ** _Be kind, Karma is a bitch._**


End file.
